Terrestrial
See also: terrestrial
English
Etymology
From Latin terrestris, from terra (“land, earth, ground”).
Noun
Terrestrial (plural Terrestrials)
- An inhabitant of the planet Earth.
- 1873, Proctor, Richard Anthony, The Expanse of Heaven, page 235:
- It will be manifest that natural scenery must present many beautiful varieties of effect altogether unfamiliar to us terrestrials, who know of no colours in scenery except those inherent in the objects themselves which form the landscape.
- 1925, Gernsback, Hugo, Ralph 124C 41+, page 41:
- The other was not a Terrestrial, but a visiting Martian.
- 1950 Fall, Anderson, Poul, “Star Ship”, in Planet Stories, volume 4, number 8, page 74:
- There'd been Earthling girls; and not a few Khazaki women had been intrigued by the big Terrestrial.
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Synonyms
- Earthling, Tellurian, Terran, see Thesaurus:Earthling
Antonyms
- alien, extraterrestrial, see also Thesaurus:extraterrestrial
Hypernyms
- Solarian
Hyponyms
- Earthgirl, Earthman, Earthwoman
Related terms
- Terra
Translations
inhabitant of the Earth — see Earthling
References
- “Terrestrial” in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford University Press, 2007, →ISBN, pages 237–238.
- Terrestrial n. at the OED Science Fiction Citations Project