Word: earth Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁er-der. Proto-Germanic *erþō Proto-West Germanic *erþu Old English eorþe Middle English erthe English earth From Middle English erthe, from Old English eorþe, from Proto-West Germanic *erþu, from Proto-Germanic *erþō (“dirt, ground, earth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁érteh₂ (“earth”). Cognates Cognate with Scots erd, yerd, yird, yirth (“earth, loam, mould, soil; ground”), Yola eard, eart, eord, eorth, erth (“earth”), North Frisian eerd, eerde, iarde, Iart, iir, jard, örd, Öört (“earth; world”), Saterland Frisian Idde, Äid, Äide (“earth; soil; ground”), West Frisian ierde (“earth; soil; ground”), Alemannic German Ëërde (“earth”), Bavarian Erd, Erdn (“world; soil; ground”), Central Franconian Ääd (“earth”), Cimbrian èerda (“earth”), Dutch aard, aarde (“earth”), German Erde (“earth; soil; ground; world”), German Low German Eer (“earth”), Limburgish eerd (“earth”), Luxembourgish Äerd (“earth; soil”), Vilamovian Ād (“earth”), Yiddish ערד (erd, “earth; soil”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish jord (“earth”), Faroese jørð (“earth”), Icelandic jörð (“earth”), Norn yurn (“the earth”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰 (airþa, “earth”); also Latin ōra (“border, edge, rim”), Breton erv (“ridge between furrows”), Welsh erw (“acre”), Ancient Greek ἔραζε (éraze, “to the ground”), Lithuanian erdvė (“expanse, space”), Albanian varr, vorr (“grave”), Tocharian B āre (“dust, loose earth”), Sanskrit उर्वरा (urvarā, “fertile soil, field yielding crops”), Hittite 𒅕𒄩𒀸 (er-ḫa-aš /⁠erḫaš⁠/, “border, boundary, line”). Probably unrelated, but of unknown etymology, is Old Armenian երկիր (erkir, “earth”). Likewise, the phonologically similar Proto-Semitic *ʔarṣ́- – whence Arabic أَرْض (ʔarḍ), Hebrew אֶרֶץ (ʾereṣ) – is probably unrelated. Pronunciation: /ɜːθ/, /ɝθ/, /ɵːθ/, /ɜθ/, /ɛrθ/ 1. Soil. Labels: uncountable Example: This is good earth for growing potatoes. 2. Any general rock-based material. Labels: uncountable Example: She sighed when the plane's wheels finally touched earth. 3. The ground, land (as opposed to the sky or sea). Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Birds are of the sky, not of the earth. Example: Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth. 4. A connection electrically to the earth ((US) ground); on equipment: a terminal connected in that manner. Labels: UK, countable, uncountable 5. The lair or den (as a hole in the ground) of an animal such as a fox. Labels: countable, uncountable 6. A region of the planet; a land or country. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. Worldly things, as against spiritual ones. Labels: countable, uncountable 8. The world of our current life (as opposed to heaven or an afterlife). Labels: countable, uncountable Example: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. 9. The people on the globe. Labels: countable, metonymically, uncountable Example: And the whole earth was of one language, and of one ſpeach. 10. Any planet similar to the Earth (our earth): an exoplanet viewed as another earth, or a potential one. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: New space telescopes may accelerate the search for other earths that may be out there. 11. The human body. Labels: archaic, countable, uncountable 12. The aforementioned soil- or rock-based material, considered one of the four or five classical elements. Labels: countable, uncountable 13. Any of certain substances now known to be oxides of metal, which were distinguished by being infusible, and by insolubility in water. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: The term Earths was formerly, and is still, but in a modified sense, applied to several substances which compose all the various rocks, stones, gems, mountains, and soils covering the face of the globe. They are tasteless, inodorous, dry, uninflamable, sparingly soluble, difficult of fusion, and of moderate specific gravity.