terra
From Proto-Italic *terzā, from Proto-Indo-European *ters-eh₂, from *ters- (“dry”).
Cognate with torreō, Ancient Greek τέρσομαι (térsomai), Old Irish tír, Sanskrit तृष्यति (tṛ́ṣyati), Old English þurst (English thirst). Compare the semantics of Ancient Greek χέρσος (khérsos).
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈter.ra/, [ˈt̪ɛrːä]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈter.ra/, [ˈt̪ɛrːä]
Noun
terra f (genitive terrae); first declension
- dry land (as opposed to watery parts of the Earth)
- ground, floor (the surface of the land) [ synonym ▲]
- Synonym: humus
- earth, soil, dirt, clay, clod (the substance generally composing the dry land) [ synonyms ▲]
- land, country, region, territory (any given area of dry land) [ quotations ▼]
- earth (the entire surface of planet Earth; dry land and sea together, as opposed to the heavens) [ quotations ▼]
- the Earth, the globe, the world (as a celestial object) [ quotations ▼]
Usage notes
The use of terra to describe the globe as a heavenly body was already established in antiquity, but in New Latin, as the Earth became more indistinguishable from other planets, it gradually came to be treated as a proper noun (see Terra). The English Earth underwent this same transition.
Declension
First-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | terra | terrae |
| Genitive | terrae | terrārum |
| Dative | terrae | terrīs |
| Accusative | terram | terrās |
| Ablative | terrā | terrīs |
| Vocative | terra | terrae |