terrestrial

noun
/tɪˈɹɛstɹɪ.əl/UK/tɪˈɹɛstɹɪ.əl/US/tɪˈɹɛstɹɪ.əl/CA/tɪˈɹestɹɪ.əl/

Etymology

From Middle English terrestrialle, from terrestre or Latin terrestris, from terra (“land, earth, ground”), with the suffix -al.

  1. derived from terrestris
  2. inherited from terrestrialle

Definitions

  1. A ground-dwelling plant.

  2. Alternative letter-case form of Terrestrial (“Inhabitant of Earth”).

    • 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.
  3. Of, relating to, or inhabiting the land of the Earth or its inhabitants, earthly.

  4. + 7 more definitions
    1. Of, relating to, or composed of land or earth.

      • quoted in 2022, C. F. G. Clark, The Curiosities of Dudley and the Black Country […] yet this stone [Cannock] is so Sulphurious and Terrestrial, not fit to make Iron; […]
      • Microorganisms are the Cinderellas of terrestrial ecology — the majority of the Earth's biomass, yet barely catalogued.
    2. Living or growing in or on land (as opposed to other habitat)

      Living or growing in or on land (as opposed to other habitat); not aquatic, not holoepiphytic, etc.

      • a terrestrial plant
      • Typically, tarantulas are either terrestrial or arboreal, but the Chilobrachys natanicharum can live in both enivronments^([sic]), the researchers said, demonstrating its adaptability.
    3. Of a planet, being composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals

      Of a planet, being composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals; see also terrestrial planet.

    4. Concerned with the world or worldly matters.

      • A genius bright and base, / Of towering talents, and terrestrial aims.
    5. Of or pertaining to the second highest degree of glory.

      • We are now living and obeying celestial laws that will make us candidates for celestial glory; or we are living terrestrial laws that will make us candidates for terrestrial glory; or telestial.
      • Theirs is an everlasting terrestrial inheritance because they rejected the truth when it was offered to them in mortality.
    6. Broadcast using radio waves as opposed to satellite or cable.

    7. An inhabitant of the planet Earth.

      • 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.
      • The other was not a Terrestrial, but a visiting Martian.
      • There'd been Earthling girls; and not a few Khazaki women had been intrigued by the big Terrestrial.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at terrestrial. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01terrestrial02earth03sun04solar05ecliptic

A definitional loop anchored at terrestrial. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

5 hops · closes at terrestrial

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA