earth
/ɝθ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.06 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
Alternative letter-case form of Earth (“the third planet of the Solar System, upon which humans live”).
noun
A connection electrically to the earth ((US) ground); on equipment: a terminal connected in that manner.
British usage; Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The astronauts saw the earth from the porthole."
- "We live in the flicker - may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling!"
- "This is good earth for growing potatoes."
- "She sighed when the plane's wheels finally touched earth."
- "Birds are of the sky, not of the earth."
- "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."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: erthe, eorþe, *erþu, *erþō, *h₁er-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɝθ/
- British English: /ɜːθ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
burrow
warren
ground
the Blue Planet
the globe
God's green earth
Sol III
Terra
the world
Middle Earth
Midgard
Mother Earth for female forms