▪ I. earth, n.1
(ɜːθ)
Forms: α. 1–4 eorðe, 1– Northumb. eorðu, eorðe, 2 horðe, 3–6 erð(e, 4–5 irthe, urth(e, 4–6 yerth(e, herthe, 5 ȝerþ, yorth, 6 earthe, yearth(e, (erith), 8–9 Sc. yirth, 9 Sc. and dial. yearth, orth, 6– earth. β. 3–5 erd(e, 6 eard, eird, 8 yird, 9 Sc. and north. dial. yird, yeird, eard.
[Common Teut.: OE. eorþe, wk. fem., corresponds to OS. ertha wk. fem. (MDu. aerde, erde, Du. aarde), OHG. erda str. and wk. fem. (MHG., mod.G. erde), ON. iǫrð (Sw., Da. jord), Goth. airþa str. fem.:—OTeut. *erþâ, (? WGer.) erþôn-; without the dental suffix the word appears in OHG. ero earth, Gr. ἔρα-ζε on the ground; no other non-Teutonic cognates are known to exist, the plausible connexion with WAryan root *ar, to plough, being open to serious objection.
With the northern and Sc. forms with -d cf. ME. dede for death; the change of -þ into -d is rare at the end of a word, though in medial positions it is frequent in Sc. The northern forms of the present word were in the early ME. period graphically coincident with those of erd, and in some phrases the two words seem to have been confused.]
(Men's notions of the shape and position of the earth have so greatly changed since Old Teutonic times, while the language of the older notions has long outlived them, that it is very difficult to arrange the senses and applications of the word in any historical order. The following arrangement does not pretend to follow the development of ideas.)
A. Simple uses. I. The ground.
1. Considered as a mere surface. † to win earth on: to gain ground upon; to lose earth: to lose ground.
| Beowulf 1533 Wearp ða wunden mæl..þæt hit on eorðan læᵹ stið and stylecᵹ. c 1000 ælfric Hom. in Sweet Ags. Reader (ed. 5) 85 Iohannes..astrehte his lichoman to eorðan on langsummum gebede. c 1200 Ormin 8073 Forr he [Herod] warrþ seoc, and he bigann To rotenn bufenn eorþe. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13860 Þey wyþ-drowen hem, & erþe þey les. 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 284 The Kyng..Wes laid at erd. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6817 Sum [he] hurlit to þe hard yerth. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 657 Twenty fote he garde hyme goo, Thus erthe on hym he wane. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. v. i. 199 They kneele, they kisse the Earth. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 192 Let your Gardiner endeavour to apply the Collateral Branches of his Wall-Fruits..to the Earth or Borders. 1847 Tennyson Princ. v. 486 Part roll'd on the earth and rose again. |
2. Considered as a solid stratum.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 4699 Þe erth it clang, for drught and hete. c 1340 Ibid. (Fairf.) 16784 The day was derker then the night Þe erthe quoke with-alle. 1562 W. Bullein Bk. Simples 57 a, The people..are constrained to inhabite in Caves, under the yearth. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 8 b, Of Gemmes, some are found in the earthes vaines, & are digged vp with Metalles. 1790 Cowper Iliad iii. 339 Who under earth on human kind avenge Severe, the guilt of violated oaths. [1865 Frost & Fire II. 182 Them is what we call marble stones; they grow in the yearth.] |
† 3. Considered as a place of burial;
esp. in phrase
to bring (a person) to (the) earth.
Obs.| c 1205 Lay. 4283 To gadere come his eorles & brohten hime to eorðe. c 1305 Edm. the Conf. 594 in E.P.P. (1862) 86 Ded he com iwis & þer he was ibroȝt an vrþe. 1387 E.E. Wills (1882) 2 Y be-quethe iii.li to bringe me on erthe. 1541 Bury Wills (1850) 261 [William Clovyer, of Chelsworth, charged his wife] to brynge me vnto the herthe honestly accordynge to my value. Ibid. 141, I commytt my body to be buryed in the churche erthe. 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, v. i, Every earth is fit for burial. |
4. The hole or hiding-place of a burrowing animal, as a badger, fox, etc.; also
fig. to run to earth: to chase (the quarry) to its earth;
fig. to capture or find (something sought for) after a long search. Similarly
to go to earth, said of the quarry; also
fig.| 1575 Turberv. Bk. Venerie 187 If you..put the Terryer into an earth where foxes be or Badgerdes, they will leave that earth. 1611 Cotgr. Accul,..the bottome..of a foxes, or badgers earth. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xi. 183 Frighted hare fled to cover, or fox to earth. 1781 P. Beckford Hunting (1802) 332, I recommend to you, to turn them into large covers and strong earths. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth I. 311, I am ready to take you to any place of safety you can name..But you cannot persuade me that you do not know what earth to make for. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. vi. (1879) 113 They were generally near their earths, but the dogs killed one. 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago xxviii, Frightened—beat—run to earth myself, although I talked so bravely of running others to earth just now. 1859 Tennyson Enid 253 And onward to the fortress rode the three..‘So,’ thought Geraint, ‘I have track'd him to his earth’. 1876 [see run v. 42 (fig.)]. 1888 Spectator 7 Jan. 20/2 All the men who helped to run to earth the various members of the Ruthven family..were richly rewarded. 1913 Punch 26 Feb. 153/1 Men who used to go to earth behind evening papers on the entrance of a woman now spring to their feet in platoons without a moment's hesitation. 1917 M. Webb (title) Gone to Earth. 1950 R. Macaulay World my Wilderness xvi. 194 The policeman..turned back to assist his colleagues in flushing Barbary, so mysteriously gone to earth. 1953 ‘F. O'Connor’ Stories 63 Eventually he would run her to earth in some snug with a couple of cronies. |
5. The soil as suited for cultivation; sometimes with a defining word denoting the nature or quality of the soil.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xiii. 7 Hrendas forðon ða ilca to huon uutedlice eorðo ᵹi-onetað. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 155 Sum ful on þe gode eorðe and þat com wel forð. c 1340 Cursor M. 27268 (Fairf.) Tilmen..better þaire awen erþ tilis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 141 Erye, or erthe [erde K], terra, humus, tellus. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 81 The bitterest erthe & werst that thou canst thinke. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §13 To plowe his barley-erthe. 1557 Lanc. Wills (1854) I. 143 On close lyeinge nerest unto James Bailies called the merled earthe. 1617 Markham Caval. iii. 29 When you finde the chase to runne ouer any faire earth, as either ouer More, Medow, Heath [etc.] all which my countrymen of the North call skelping earths. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Earth, By means of sand it is, that the fatty earth is rendered fertile. 1821 Mrs. Wheeler Westmorld. Dial. 71 They racken his earth is as gud as onny ith parrish. |
6. Electr. The ground considered as the medium by which a circuit is completed. Hence used for: Connection of a wire conductor with the earth, either accidental (with the result of leakage of current or dangerous differences of potential) or intentional (as for the purpose of providing a return path for a telegraph current, etc.). (
Cf. ground n. 15 b.)
| [1773 H. Cavendish Jrnl. 9 Feb. in Electr. Researches (1879) 267 It was suspected that this increase of separation of the balls before they closed was owing to the wire designed to carry off the el[ectricity] to earth not conducting fast enough.] 1868 L. Clark Elem. Treat. Electr. Measurement vi. 42 The earth connections should therefore be carefully looked to occasionally. If a station have a defective earth, and have two wires leading to it, the evil will generally disclose itself. 1870 R. Ferguson Electr. 250 An ‘earth’, however, is generally put at each station. 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 225 Upon no account whatever is a leaden gas-pipe to be employed for the purpose of affording earth. Ibid. 243 Earths are indicated by an increase in the strength of the current at the sending end, and by a decrease in the strength, or the entire cessation of it, at the other end. Ibid. 253 If the earth at B is bad while that at A and at C is good, then a part of A's current, on reaching B, instead of going to earth there, will take the course of the wire to C, working C's apparatus, and go to earth at C. 1901 L. M. Waterhouse Conduit Wiring 17 When the cables are pulled through, the braiding (and perhaps the rubber) is torn off and the result is a bad ‘earth’ at some future time. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 523/2 The signals received on such sensitive instruments..are liable to be disturbed by the return currents of other systems..and to obviate this it is necessary to form the ‘earth’ for the cable a few miles out at sea. 1966 Buying Secondhand (Consumers' Assoc.) 71 Earth is always green or green/yellow except in German-made appliances where earth is red. |
II. The world on which we dwell.
7. The dry land, as opposed to the sea.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. i. 10 And God geciᵹde þa driᵹnisse eorðan. c 1160 Hatton Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 15 ᵹe befareð sæ and eorðan. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 116 Ðe ðridde dai..was water and erðe o sunder sad. a 1300 Cursor M. 383 Þe watris all he calid þe se, Þe drey he calid erd. 1382 Wyclif Gen. i. 10 God clepid the drie erthe. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 624 The seat of men, Earth, with her nether Ocean circumfus'd. 1712–4 Pope Rape Lock iv. 119 Sooner let earth, air, sea to Chaos fall. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. I. 6 There's sae strong a spirit of life hotchin over yearth and sea. |
8. The world as including land and sea; as distinguished from the (material) heaven.
| Beowulf 92 (Gr.) Se ælmihtiᵹa eorðan w[orhte]. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 139 Sunnen dei was iseȝan þet formeste liht buuen eorðe. c 1205 Lay. 4154 He somenede ferd Swulc nes næuere eær on erde. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 40 Of noȝt Was heuene and erðe samen wroȝt. c 1320 Cast. Loue 95 God atte begynnynges Hedde i-maad heuene wiþ ginne..And þe eorþe þer-after þer-wiþ. 1698 J. Keill Exam. Th. Earth (1734) 127 What proportion all the Rivers in the Earth bear to the Po. 1747 J. Scott Christ. Life III. 489 Spreading..even to the utmost ends of the earth. a 1813 A. Wilson Rab & Ringan Poet. Wks. (1846) 147 He ca'd the kirk the church, the yirth the globe. 1854 Tomlinson Arago's Astron. 99 Men for a long while regarded the earth as a boundless plain. |
9. a. Considered as the present abode of man; frequently contrasted with heaven or hell. In
poet. and
rhet. use often without the article.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxviii. 18 Me is ᵹeseald ælc anweald on heofonan and on eorþan [950 Lindisf. on eorðo]. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 47 Heo on eorðe ȝeueð reste to alle eorðe þrelles wepmen and wifmen of heore þrel weorkes. a 1300 Cursor M. 29280 Crist has here in irthe leuyd Þe hele of cristendom and heuyd. Ibid. 71 [Scho] saues me first in herth fra syn, And heuen blys me helps to wyn. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 515 To conquere alle seculer lordship in þis eorþe. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 8 Wat þu byndist vpon ȝerþe, it schal be boundoun al so in heuin. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 462 Shalle not long w{supt} ȝou in urthe a byde. c 1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 13 And he..loueth hir chastite a monge alle þe virgyns in erthe. c 1500 Lancelot 128 For in this erith no lady is so fare. 1546 Primer Hen. VIII, 74 To whom..In heaven & yerth be laud and praise. Amen. 1597 J. Payne Royal Exch. 37, I came not to send peace in to the yerthe but warr. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. iii. 45 Those that haue knowne the Earth so full of faults. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 99 O Earth! how like to Heav'n, if not preferr'd More justly. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 813 Mighty Cæsar..On the glad Earth the Golden Age renews. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 182 But Kilmeny on yirth was nevir mayre seine. 1858 Trench Parables ii. (1877) 15 Earth is not a shadow of heaven, but heaven..a dream of earth. |
b. transf. The inhabitants of the world.
| 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Benedicite, O let the Earth, speak good of the Lord. 1611 Bible Gen. xi. 1 The whole earth was of one language. |
c. In the intensive expression
on earth, chiefly in interrogative and negative contexts. Also, with a superlative, used as an intensive
phr.| 1774 Goldsm. Retal. 103 With no reason on earth to go out of his way, He turned and he varied full ten times a day. 1847 J. Carlyle Let. 15 July (1883) I. 389 If I could have done anything on earth but cry. 1859 Princess Royal Let. 26 Aug. in R. Fulford Dearest Child (1964) 207, I cannot see what on earth he can have of very urgent business here in November. 1862 Thackeray Philip (1872) 228 What scheme on (h)earth are you driving at? 1873 ‘Mark Twain’ & Warner Gilded Age 29 I've got the biggest scheme on earth—and I'll take you in! 1876 R. Broughton Joan xiii, You people really have the worst small-beer in Europe. Where on earth did you get it? 1882 Mrs. J. H. Riddell Daisies & Buttercups i. iv. 121 What on earth did it all matter to me? 1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus 128 Why on earth was she making this dead set at him? 1910 Wodehouse Psmith in City xviii. 158 Master Edward Waller..in frocks, looking like a gargoyle;..in sailor suit, looking like nothing on earth. |
d. Colloq. phr. the earth, used in intensive expressions indicative of great or excessive ambition, cost, expense, etc.;
to cost the earth: see
cost v. 1 d.
| 1928 Wodehouse Money for Nothing vii. 132 What's the matter with you that you always want the earth? 1952 ― Barmy in Wonderland xiv. 137, I pay a director the earth. Where is he? 1958 Engineering 4 Apr. 427/2 The customer has a perfect right to ask for the earth, but the supplier, if he is wise, will not necessarily let him have it. 1961 A. Christie Pale Horse xii. 129 Would it be terribly expensive?.. She'd heard they charged the earth. |
10. a. Considered as a sphere, orb, or planet.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 5339 Erthe, that bitwixe is sett The sonne and hir [the moon]. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. Cont. (Arb.) 45 A demonstration of the roundenesse of the earth. 1658 Culpepper Astrol. Judgem. Dis. 18 The Earth is a great lump of dirt rolled up together, and..hanged in the Air. 1726 tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 403 The Place of the Aphelion or Perihelion of the Earth. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. Introd. 32 The Earth is lengthened out at the Poles. 1854 Brewster More Worlds Introd. 2 The earth is a planet. |
† b. transf. A world resembling the earth; a (supposed) habitable planet.
| 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 381 He affirmed..the Moon [to be] an earth, having Mountains and Valleys, Cities and Houses in it. 1684 T. Burnet Th. Earth I. 168 We will consider..the rest of the earths, or of the planets within our heavens. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 23, This is the 1st, or highest, of 7 earths. |
III. † 11. [? After L.
terra.] A country, land; portion of the earth's surface.
Obs.| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John iii. 22 æfter ðas cum se hælend..in iudea eorðu [975 Rushw. eorðo]. a 1300 Cursor M. 5484 Ioseph..first was berid in þat contre, Siþen born til his erth was he. c 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxi. 2 Sone of man..prophecy thou aȝens the erthe of Israel. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 1325 They yave Ser Torent that he wan, Both the erth and the woman. 1556 Lauder Tract. (1864) 270 And..ȝe be nocht feird But doute for to possesse the eird. 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 344 This hand That swayes the earth this Climate ouerlookes. 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 41 The Athenians have the spirit not to be slaves to their earth. |
IV. As a substance or material.
12. a. The material of which the surface of the ground is composed, soil, mould, dust, clay.
| a 1000 Guthlac 351 (Gr.) Þeah min ban and blod butu ᵹeweorðen eorðan to eacan. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 God..cweð þat he wolde wercan man of eorðan. a 1300 Cursor M. 928 Vnto þat erth þou was of tan. a 1300 Havelok 740 A litel hus to maken of erthe. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 427 Askes and pouder, erthe and clay. 1534 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) C v, To graue..in erthe, and other sculptures. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 193 Now is your Season for Circumposition by Tubs or Baskets of Earth. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 15 Mould, Sand, Gravil or Clay (all which I call Earth). 1806 Gazetteer Scotl. 54 Alternate strata of earth and limestone. 1836 Thirlwall Greece II. xiv. 213 The envoys..undertook to give earth and water. 1865 G. Macdonald A. Forbes III. 168 ‘Sober floories that smell o' the yird like’. |
† b. Clay as material for pottery.
Obs.| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 69 He wolde euer be serued in vessels of erth. 1660 Act 12 Chas. II, iv. Sched. s.v. Bottles, Bottles..of Earth or Stone the dozen. |
c. In
Sugar-making. A layer of earth spread over the raw sugar in the process of refining.
| 1752 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Sugar, When the second earth is taken off, they cleanse the surface of the sugar with a brush. |
13. a. As the type of dull, dead matter.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 78 Dar'st thou, thou little better thing then earth, Divine his downfall? |
b. As a disparaging term for precious metal.
| 1612 W. Parkes Curtaine Dr. (1876) 34 My bagges are full..with the white and red earth of the world. |
c. Used for: The body.
Cf. dust,
clay.
| a 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxlvi, Poore soule the center of my sinfull earth. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Maid's Trag. v. (1679) 19 This earth of mine doth tremble, and I feel A stark affrighted motion in my blood. 1822 Shelley Hellas 21 The indignant spirit cast its mortal garment Among the slain—dead earth upon the earth. |
14. Earth as one of the four so-called ‘elements’. Also, in pre-scientific chemistry, one of the supposed five (or six) elements; see
quot. 1778.
| a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 267 Of this four elementz ech quik thing y-maked is, Of urthe, of water, and of eyr, and of fur, i-wis. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 92 Four elements there ben diverse, The first of hem men erthe call. 1564 P. Moore Hope Health i. iii. 5 The yearth is the loweste and heauiest element. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 294 You should not rest Betweene the elements of ayre and earth. 1778 Dict. of Art & Sciences, s.v. Element, The elements..to which all bodies may be..reduced are..Water..Air..Oil..Salt..Earth. |
15. Chem. (See
quots.) In
mod. use restricted to certain metallic oxides, agreeing in having little taste or smell, and in being uninflammable,
e.g. magnesia, alumina, zirconia, and the ‘alkaline earths’ baryta, lime, strontia.
| a 1728 Woodward (J.) Earths are opake, insipid, and, when dried, friable, or consisting of parts easy to separate, and soluble in water. 1751 Sir J. Hill Mat. Med. (J.) The five genera of earths are, 1. Boles, 2. Clays, 3. Marls, 4. Ochres, 5. Tripelas. 1791 Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. i. i. 22 They unite with acids, alkalis..and some earths, principally alumine. 1814 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. 12 Four Earths generally abound in soils, the aluminous, the siliceous, the calcareous, and the magnesian. 1863–79 Watts Dict. Chem. II. 360 Earths, this name is applied to the oxides of the metals, barium, strontium, etc. |
B. earth- in
comb. I. General relations.
1. attributive.
a. Pertaining to the earth as a world, or as a globe or planet; as in
earth-child,
earth-god,
earth-goddess,
earth-history,
earth-line,
earth-lord,
earth-magic,
earth-measure,
earth-noise,
earth-pole,
earth-power,
earth-surface,
earth-time,
earth-year.
b. Pertaining to the ground, dwelling or existing on, near, or below the surface of the ground, as in
earth-beetle,
earth-bird,
earth-damp,
earth-fly,
earth-hole.
c. Pertaining to the crust of the earth, as in
earth-throe,
earth-tremor.
d. Pertaining to the earth in relation to electricity, as in
earth-resistance.
e. Characteristic of earth as a substance, as in
earth-colour, (hence
earth-coloured adj.),
earth-smell,
earth-tint,
earth-tone; composed of earth, as in
earth-bank,
earth-bottom,
earth-envelope,
earth-mound,
earth-wall.
| 1866 Kingsley Herew. xix. 236 He went along the *earth-banks of his ancient home. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 379 A kind of *earth-beetles called tauri, i. Buls. |
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 132 Þeos..beoþ *eorð briddes, & nesteð o þer eorðe. |
| 1883 F. G. Heath in Century Mag. Dec. 169/1 Over the original *earth-bottom of the cave is a bed or layer of considerable thickness. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 2 June 6/2 *Earth-child, struggle no more. 1931 Blunden To Themis 56 Age cannot wither you, Tiny philosopher, Earth-child, musician. |
| 1935 T. S. Eliot Murder in Cathedral i. 12 The labourer bends to his piece of earth, *earth-colour, his own colour. |
| 1918 D. H. Lawrence New Poems 50 The waste all dry..Stirring with *earth-coloured life. |
| 1814 Scott Wav. xxxvii, The light usually carried by a miner..certain to be extinguished should he encounter the more formidable hazard of *earth⁓damps or pestiferous vapours. |
| 1884 H. R. Haweis in Longm. Mag. Dec. 191 The *earth-envelope of mind is not the measure of mind. |
| 1731 Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope II. 176 There is a sort of Flies at the Cape which the Europeans call *Earth-flies. |
| 1871 Swinburne Poems (1904) II. 124 The *earth-god Freedom. 1904 Folk-Lore Sept. 312 As an embodiment of the earth-god the king was responsible for the fruits of the earth. |
| 1878 Gladstone Prim. Homer 74 We have no acknowledged *earth-goddess in the poems. |
| 1880 A. Wallace Isl. Life 83 The opposite belief, which is now rapidly gaining ground among the students of *earth-history. |
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 139 He turnde..fro mennes wunienge to wilde deores, and ches þere crundel to halle and *eorðhole to bure. |
| 1866 G. M. Hopkins Jrnl. 6 May (1959) 135 A charming day, sky pied with clouds, near the *earth-line egg-blue. 1907 Kipling Twenty Poems (1918) 2 They are concerned with matters hidden—under the earth-line their altars are. |
| 1628 Gaule Pract. The. 42 The *Earth-Lords [Adam's] honour now layd in the dust. 1944 Blunden Shells by Stream 13 Something between a castle and a cave..For that earth-lord to pace. |
| 1901 ‘L. Malet’ Hist. R. Calmady vi. x. 603 All this, the unity and secrecy of the place..circling them about with something of *earth-magic. 1928 C. Day Lewis Country Comets 9 For his was the simpleness Born of earth-magic. |
| 1570 Billingsley Euclid xii. xviii. 389 It was nedefull for Mechanicall *earthmeasures, not to be ignorant of the measure and contents of the circle. |
| 1875 Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Immortality Wks. (Bohn) III. 280 The Pyramids..and cromlechs and *earth-mounds much older. |
| 1850 Browning Poems II. 435, I can hear it 'Twixt my spirit And the *earth⁓noise, intervene. |
| 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 32 From the *earth-poles to the line. |
| 1887 Spectator 7 May 626/1 The *earth-powers which dwell in the billows, the rain, the frost, and the air. |
| 1870 R. Ferguson Electr. 243 The *earth resistance to the current..is next to nothing. |
| 1895 K. Grahame Golden Age 14 The air was wine, the moist *earth-smell wine. 1942 T. S. Eliot Little Gidding i. 7 There is no earth smell Or smell of living thing. |
| 1883 Proctor in Contemp. Rev. Oct. 566 An extent of *earth-surface to be measured. |
| Ibid. Tens of thousands of human beings have..been destroyed by *earth-throes. |
| 1951 A. C. Clarke Sands of Mars ii. 15 We keep normal *Earth-time—Greenwich Meridian—aboard the [space-]ship. 1951 S. Spender tr. Rilke's Life of Virgin Mary 47 Something endured Still, rest of earth-time, canker withered. |
| 1865 Daily Tel. 27 Oct. 3/1 The colour of these tiles is a deep *earth-tint. |
| 1973 T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 149 All in some nameless *earth tone—a hedge-green, a clay-brown, a touch of oxidation, a breath of the autumnal. 1984 Homes & Land in Gatorland (Fla.) 17 Apr. 3/1 (Advt.), Fieldstone complements this cheerful 3 bdr. Decorated in earthtones. |
| 1887 G. H. Darwin Earthquakes in Fortn. Rev. Feb. 274 These troublesome changes are called *earth tremors. |
| 1884 Athenæum 16 Aug. 217/3 Dr. Bruce also pointed out traces..of the vallum or *earthwall. |
| 1953 E. F. Russell Somewhere a Voice (1965) 18 It would take them most of an *Earth-year to reach the fortieth parallel. |
2. objective.
a. (sense 1), as
earth-tilling,
earth-worker vbl. ns.;
earth-baking,
earth-convulsing,
earth-delving,
earth-incinerating,
earth-piercing,
earth-trading ppl. adjs. b. (senses 7, 8), as
earth-measuring vbl. n.;
† earths-amazing,
earth-crossing,
earth-destroying,
earth-devouring,
earth-embleming,
earth-overgazing,
earth-refreshing,
earth-vexing ppl. adjs. c. (sense 9), as
earth-poring,
earth-seeking ppl. adjs. d. (sense 12), as
earth-grubber,
earth-maker,
earth-scraper;
earth-eating vbl. n. and
ppl. adj.;
earth-wheeling vbl. n.| 1624 Quarles Job (1717) 221 Jehovah did at length unshroud His *Earths-amazing language. |
| 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 143 *Earth-baking heat. |
| 1819 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. (1878) II. 132 *Earth-convulsing behemoth. |
| 1886 Proctor in 19th Cent. May 692 A special *earth-crossing family of Comets. |
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 687 Where *earth-deluing Conies keepe. |
| a 1631 Drayton Wks. IV. 1540 (Jod.) This all drowning *earth-destroying shower. |
| c 1605 Montgomerie Poems 39 (Jod.) The *earth devouring anguish of despair. |
| 1852 Th. Ross tr. Humboldt's Trav. II. xxiv. 499 These examples of *earth-eating in the torrid zone appear very strange. 1869 tr. Pouchet's Universe (1871) 22 There are a tolerably large number of earth-eating tribes in North America. |
| 1839 Bailey Festus x. (1848) 108 The sacrificial ox, *earth-embleming. |
| c 1630 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 33/2 The earth and *earth-embracing sea did shake. 1870 Bryant Homer I. ix. 274 They offered prayer To earth-embracing Neptune. |
| 1883 Proctor in Contemp. Rev. Oct. 566 The *earth-fashioning power of vulcanian forces. |
| 1661 K. W. Conf. Charac., Usurer (1860) 74 This miserable *earthgrubber doth..acquire this trash with vexation. 1869 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. xv. 2 True believers do not..bend double as earth-grubbers. |
| 1801 Huntington Bank of Faith 34 Finding nothing could be done with the *earth-holders, I..determined to build my stories in the heaven. |
| 1598 J. Dickenson Greene in Conc. (1878) 134 *Earth-incinerating Aetnas wombe big swolne with flames. |
| 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. xiv. 285 Potters and *earth-makers; that is to say, people that tempered the earth for the China ware. |
| 1570 Billingsley Euclid xii. xviii. 389 Geometria, that is, *Earthmeasuring. |
| 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. xci, The peak Of *earth-o'ergazing mountains. |
| 1839 Bailey Festus xix. (1848) 206 The broad and upturned base Of that *earth-piercing altar pyramid. |
| 1646 G. Daniel Poems Wks. 1878 I. 24 High, and purged Soules Leave Time and Place, to dull *earthporing fooles. |
| a 1631 Drayton Wks. II. 4–9 (Jod.) The *earth-refreshing Sun..his golden head doth run Far under us. |
| 1615 T. Adams Spiritual Navig. 34 *Earth scrapers..that would dig to the Center to exhale riches. |
| 1646 G. Daniel Poems Wks. 1878 I. 13 A low bruit Affection..which binds In Sensuall Fetters, lowe *Earth-seeking minds. |
| 1875 E. White Life in Christ i. i. (1878) 3 Wearing so many crowns, as *Earth-subduer, Legislator. |
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 31 Þis kyng [Azarias] louede wel *erþe telynge. 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. iii. 9 Ȝe ben the erthe tilyinge of God. |
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. ii. 25 *Earthtreading starres, that make darke heauen light. |
| 1611 ― Cymb. v. iv. 42 This *earth-vexing smart. |
| 1477 in York Myst. Introd. 21 note, Garthyners, *erthe wallers, pavers, dykers. |
| 1885 Sir R. Rawlinson in Pall Mall G. 17 Jan. 1/2 Stockport, where men had been set to test work at *earth-wheeling. |
| 1872 H. Macmillan True Vine ii. 57 ‘*Earth-worker,’ as the original word for husbandman should be rendered. |
3. instrumental with passive
pple., as
earth-blinded,
earth-dimmed,
earth-fed,
earth-rampired,
earth-stained,
earth-worn.
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. viii, Thou the *Earth-blinded summonest both Past and Future. |
| 1884 W. G. Horder in Chr. World Pulpit 12 Nov. 310/3 Our *earth⁓dimmed souls. |
| 1605 B. Jonson Volpone iii. vii, *Earth-fed Minds That never tasted the true Heav'n of love. |
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, cli, *Earth-rampeir'd Ears, expect the Drum to Call. |
| 1827 Keble Chr. Y. 24th Sund. after Trin., The *earth-stained spright Whose wakeful musings are of guilt and fear. |
| 1866 E. Peacock Eng. Ch. Furniture 177 The *earth-worn face of the living. |
4. adverbial with
adjs. or
vbl. ns. Chiefly locative and originative (in, on, near to the earth; from, of the earth), and similative (as the earth); as in
earth-bedded,
earth-bound (also
transf. and
fig., and indicating motion towards the earth),
earth-bowed,
earth-bred,
earth-burrower,
earth-coloured,
earth-creeping,
earth-ejected,
earth-gaping,
earth-grovelling,
earth-lent,
earth-long,
earth-low,
earth-made,
earth-nurtured,
earth-proud,
earth-rooted,
earth-sprung,
earth-turned,
earth-undone,
earth-wide.
| 1813 Scott Rokeby ii. xv, Yon *earth-bedded jetting-stone. |
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 96 Who can..bid the Tree Vnfixe his *earth-bound Root? 1869 W. James Coll. Ess. & Rev. (1920) 1, The ‘Sadducees’, as our author [sc. a spiritualist] loves to call the earth-bound portion of the community. 1931 C. Day Lewis From Feathers to Iron xv. 31 Earth's first faint tug at the earthbound soul. 1935 Discovery Feb. 43/1 To an earth-bound rocket pressure is more important than velocity. 1950 S. Spender Sel. Poems Whitman 11 With all his loftiness and idealism, he is peculiarly earth-bound. |
| 1865 G. Smith Autumn iv. in Macm. Mag. XIII. 54 *Earth-bow'd trees. |
| 1594 ? Greene Selimus Wks. 1881–3 XIV. 285 *Earth-bred brethren, which once Heapte hill on hill to scale the starrie skie. 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 90 Earth-bred wormes,..will stand vpon termes of gentilitie. 1622 May Heir in Hazl. Dodsley II. 517 The earth-bred thoughts of his gross soul. |
| 1883 Wood in Longm. Mag. Dec. 162 The mole is an *earth-burrower. |
| 1877 Daily News 1 Nov. 5/7 We reached Biela at dark, *earth-coloured, wet and out of spirits. |
| 1581 Sidney Apol. Poesie (1622) 530 So *earth-creeping a mind, that it cannot lift itself vp to looke to the skies of Poetry. 1819 Shelley Prometh. Unb. ii. ii, The earth-creeping breeze. |
| 1886 Proctor in 19th Cent. May 694 The orbit..had been that of the *earth-ejected comet. |
| 1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 31 *Earth-gaping Chasma's, that mishap aboades. |
| 1642 H. More Song of Soul i. iii. xxxviii, This Province..is hight *earth-grovelling Aptery. |
| 1839 Bailey Festus vi. (1848) 61 With every *earthlent ray of every star Holy and special influences are. |
| 1903 W. S. Blunt 7 Golden Odes 15 Herds knelt, their necks stretched *earth-long. 1935 C. Day Lewis Time to Dance 55 Earth-long and heaven-outfacing woes. |
| 1600 Tourneur Transf. Met. cclxxxii, With fleecy Wooll, that hung on *earth-low brakes. |
| 1849 Hare Par. Serm. II. 416 Everything *earth-made has a weight in it which drags it down to earth. |
| 1881 H. Phillips tr. Chamisso's Faust 15 Woe and wail! earth-born, *earth-nurtured! |
| 1868 Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. (1879) I. 218 Weary *earth-plodders. |
| 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 70 *Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs. |
| 1871 G. Macdonald Songs of Days & Nts. 51 The long grass..an *earth-rooted sea. |
| 1614 R. Taylor Hog lost Pearl in Dodsley (1780) VI. 412 Tortur'd by the weak assailments Of *earth-sprung griefs. a 1849 J. C. Mangan Poems (1850) 74 Earthsprung mothers, of an earthly name, Doomed to die. |
| 1618 R. Brathwait Descr. Death, *Earth-turned, mole-eied, flesh-hook, that puls us hence. |
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems I. 313 As one God-satisfied and *earth-undone. |
| 1864 R. S. Hawker Quest. Sangraal 4 The *Earthwide Judge, Pilate the Roman. |
II. Special comb.:
earth-almond = chufa;
earth-bags = sand-bags (
Adm. Smyth); see
earth-sack;
earth-balls, truffles,
Tuber cibarium (Britten and Holland);
† earth-bath, a kind of medical treatment in which the patient was buried up to the shoulders in the ground;
earth-battery (
Electr.), a battery formed by burying two voltaic elements in the earth some distance apart;
earth-bed, a bed upon the ground; the grave;
† earth-bind, some creeping plant;
earth-bob, a maggot, the larva of a beetle;
† earth-coal, coal as distinguished from charcoal;
earth-car (see
quot.);
earth-chestnut = earth-nut;
† earth-chine, a cleft in the earth;
earth-closet, a substitute for a water-closet, in which earth is used as a deodorising agent;
earth colour,
pigment, a pigment obtained from native earth, as the ochres and umbers; so
earth white;
earth-current (
Electr.), an irregular current due to the earth, which affects telegraph wires so as to render them temporarily useless for communication;
† earth-dog, a terrier;
earth-drake,
mod. rendering of
OE. eorð-draca earth-dragon;
† earth-flax, some mineral, possibly asbestos;
earth-flea,
earth-fly,
= chigoe;
earth-foam, a variety of Aphrite;
earth-fork, a digging fork;
earth-gall, the Lesser Centaury,
Erythræa Centaurium;
earth-hog = aard-vark;
earth-house, an underground chamber or dwelling;
fig. the grave;
earth-hunger, a disease characterized by a morbid craving for eating earth;
fig. desire to possess land, greed of territory;
† earth-ivy = ground-ivy;
† earth-lice,
transl. L.
pedunculi terræ (see
quot.);
earth-life, terrestrial existence;
earth-man, (
a) a human being (or
occas. a mythical creature) whose life and instincts are closely allied with the natural or material (as opposed to the spiritual) world; (
b)
esp. in science fiction, an inhabitant or native of the planet Earth; also
earthsman,
earth-woman;
earth-marl, marl containing a large proportion of clay;
earth-moss, the genus
Phascum (Britten and Holland);
Earth-Mother [
tr. G.
erdmutter], in mythology and folklore, a spirit or being taken as a symbol of the earth; a sensual and maternal woman; also
= mother earth 1;
earth-mouse, the plant
Lathyrus tuberosus (Britten and Holland);
earth-mover orig. U.S., a vehicle or machine designed for the excavation or shifting of large quantities of earth; so
earth-moving ppl. a.;
earth-moving vbl. n., (
a)
= earthquake; (
b) the process of moving large quantities of earth during excavation, etc.;
earth-oil, petroleum;
earth-pig,
transl. Du. aardvarken = aard-vark;
earth-pillar (
Geol.), a pillar-like mass of earth (see
quot.);
† earth-planet,
nonce-wd., a fugitive, wanderer;
earth-plate (
Electr.), a metal plate buried in the earth, connected with a telegraph battery in order that the circuit may be completed by the earth;
† earth-puff, a puff-ball fungus (Nares);
earth-return, (
a)
Electr., an earthed return circuit, as distinguished from a metallic return; also
attrib.; (
b)
attrib., returning to the planet Earth;
† earth-ric (Orm.
eorþeriche), the earth-realm, earth as a region;
earth-rind, rhetorically used for ‘crust of the earth’; also
fig.;
earth-sack, a sack filled with earth, used as a fascine in fortifications;
earth satellite, an artificial satellite projected into orbit around the earth; also
attrib.;
earth-sculpture, the physical processes by which the form of the earth's surface is altered;
earth-shaker, also
earth-shaking ppl. a., chiefly used as epithets of Poseidon or Neptune;
ppl. a., also
fig.;
earth-shaking vbl. n., formerly
= earthquake;
earth-shine (
Astron.)
= earth-light;
earth-shock, a convulsion of the earth;
† an earthquake;
† earth-shrew, the Shrew-mouse;
earth-side,
nonce-wd., earthward side or aspect; also
attrib. or as adj., and used adverbially;
earth-smoke, the plant Fumitory (Britten and Holland);
earth-soul, (
a)
Philos., the supposed collective consciousness of the earth, including as its parts the consciousnesses of all earth's inhabitants (
cf. anima mundi); (
b) the soul of a former earth-dweller;
earth-spider, the Tarantula;
earth-spring, in electrical machines a spring connected with the earth;
earth-star, a fungus so called from its stellate shape when lying on the ground; also as
nonce-wd., applied to the earth considered as a ‘star’, and to luminous objects resembling stars;
earth-stopper, one who is employed to stop up the ‘earths’ or holes of foxes;
earth-table (
Arch.), see
quot.;
earth-tongue (
Bot.),
Eng. rendering of the name of the genus
Geoglossum (
Treas. Bot.);
earth-wave, a seismic wave in the solid crust of the earth;
earth-wax = ozocerite;
earth-wire Electr., wire carried from a conductor into the earth,
esp. to prevent contact from the leakage of current from one wire into another; hence
earth-wire v.,
-wired ppl. a.,
-wiring vbl. n.;
earth-wolf,
transl. Du. aardwolf,
q.v.;
earth-woman (see
earth-man above). Also
earth-apple, -board, -born, -din, -fast,
-less, -light, -mad,
-wise, -work, -worm.
| 1856 Rep. Comm. Pat.: Agric. 1855 (U.S.) p. xiii, The *Earth Almond, or Chufa, (Cyperus esculentus), a small tuberous esculent, from the south of Spain, has naturalised itself to our climate and soil. 1860 Earth-almond [see chufa]. |
| 1765 Nat. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 108/2 The *Earth-bath..may be used with safety only from the end..of May to..October. |
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6962 Ioseph bans þai wit ham ledd, þar þai þam grof in *erth bedd. 1637 Nabbes Microcosm. in Dodsley IX. 163 My earth-bed wet with nightly tears. 1877 Browning La Saisiaz 118 Of all earth-beds, to your mind Most the choice for quiet, yonder. |
| 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 205 Headache of rheume, put in the iuyce of white *Earthbinde into the nose. |
| 1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling i. iii. 13 The *Earth-Bob or White-Grub is a Worm with a red Head. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 57 The best bait for them in the winter is, the earth bob, it is the spawn of the beetle. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Earth-car = dumping-car, a car for transporting gravel and stone in railway operations. |
| c 1220 Bestiary 402 [A fox] goð o felde to a furg, and falleð ðarinne, In eried lond er in *erð-chine. |
| 1870 Eng. Mech. 18 Mar. 661/3 He had converted a privy into an *earth-closet. 1871 G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. i. viii. 233 The dry earth-closet is especially valuable. |
| 1807 Southey Espriella's Lett. (1814) I. 12 They burn *earth⁓coal everywhere. |
| 1913 N. Heaton Hurst's Man. Painters' Colours (ed. 5) v. 155 Iron oxide is also the colouring principle of the group of pigments known as ‘*earth colours’. 1951 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. VII. 325/1 Examples of such earth colours are yellow ochre, siennas (dark yellows), and umbers (browns). |
| 1872 Phil. Mag. XLIII. 186 It is almost impossible to have two earth-plates inserted any distance apart without a difference of tension,..This is due in some cases to *earth-currents. 1879 Thomson & Tait Nat. Phil. I. i. §376 An unknown and every varying electromotive force..due to the earth (producing what is commonly called the ‘earth-current’). |
| 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm 699 The hunting of the Foxe and Broke..is to bee performed with *earth-dogs. |
| a 1000 Beowulf (Gr.) 2711 Sio wund..þe him se *eorð-draca ær ᵹeworhte. 18.. W. Spalding. in Ogilvie, s.v. Earth-drake. |
| 1695 Woodward (J.) Of English talc, the coarser sort is called plaister, or parget; the finer, *earth flax, or salamander's hair. |
| 1872 Watts Dict. Chem. I. 349 A soft friable variety of it [aphrite] called *earth⁓foam. |
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 186 Centaurian sume hatað hyrde wyrt sume *eorð ᵹeallan. 1611 Cotgr., Repeyret, Feuerwort, Earthgall, Centorie the lesse. 1884 Miller Plant Names 40 Earth-gall, Erythræa Centaurium and other plants of the Gentian tribe. |
| 1731 Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope II. 118 The *Earth-hogs..are not unlike the European hogs, excepting that their colour approaches to a red. |
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 146 Romane him..worhton *eorþ hus for þære lyfte wilme. c 1205 Lay. 2381 Seouen ȝer wes Astrild i þissen eorð huse [1250 erþ huse]. a 1856 Longfellow Grave 28 Loathsome is that earth-house and grim within to dwell. |
| 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits vii. Truth Wks. (Bohn) II. 53 The *earth-hunger, or preference for property in land, which is said to mark the Teutonic nations. 1884 Graphic 4 Oct. 342/2 The Boers..whose earth hunger is notorious, will gradually ‘eat-up’ all the surrounding territories. |
| c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 299 Hedera nigra, *eorðifiᵹ. c 1265 Voc. Plant-names in Wr.-Wülcker 558 Hedera nigra, oerþiui. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 37 a, Take the lesse Shaving girss..and Earth yvy, of eche two handfull. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 379 Some tearme them, Pedunculos terræ, *earth-lice. |
| 1906 W. De Morgan Joseph Vance xix. 191 The black Shadow that oppressed me was bidden to..scatter itself over the remainder of my *earth-life. 1906 Daily Chron. 28 May 3/4 One brief day—as long as seven years of this earth-life. 1922 O. Lodge Raymond Revised 47 Humour does not cease with earth-life. 1958 New Statesman 15 Mar. 353/2 The spy from Outer Space..will be happy to discover..an authentic smell, that is, of mid-century earth-life in general. |
| 1860 H. B. Tristram Great Sahara i. 18 A negro from Timbuctoo engaged to remove the plague, and taught sacrifices to the ‘*Earth⁓men’, or demons who roam the earth. These are believed to be harmless when once they have obtained a human residence. 1904 G. K. Chesterton G. F. Watts 126 He would see giants and the sea..and brown earth⁓men and red earth-women lying in the heaps of greens and browns and reds. 1905 Daily Chron. 16 Mar. 8/2 The sensual earth-man must be killed, beyond all chances of reviving, before the man after the divine pattern and will can live. 1930 A. H. Krappe Sci. Folk-Lore i. 20 In at least one type [of fairy tale], the story of the Earthman, the helper, a dwarf, sometimes a witch, has to be overcome by the hero first. 1936 C. S. Lewis Alleg. Love vii. 312 Mammon is the gold-hoarding earthman of immemorial tradition, the gnome. 1947 W. K. Richmond Poetry & People i. 14 At heart we are still Saxons, and deeper still we are countryfolk, peasants, earth-men. 1949 R. Heinlein Red Planet (1963) i. 3 The Mars creature saw an elderly pale Earthman. 1960 Guardian 26 Aug. 2/7 If their site did indeed become the set of the space film, the corps members would not be suitable for the parts of earth-men. |
| 1770–4 A. Hunter Georg. Ess. (1803) I. 226 note, A very considerable number of *earth⁓marls are of a stony hardness. 1831 Brit. Husb. I. 311 The origin of earth-marl is a subject of curious inquiry. |
| 1904 Edin. Rev. Jan. 38 The Indian women disraimented still enact the ancient ritual of the Rain-Goddess or *Earth-Mother. 1906 Inst. Mag. Apr. 312 When the great, good Earth-Mother saw this, she called to April and sent her back to gain a victory over her malicious enemy. 1907 Academy 31 Aug. 837/1 Soft to his neck earth-mother clings. 1961 S. Lloyd Art Anc. Near East iii. 82 His symbolic marriage with Inanna, the ‘earth-mother’. 1962 John o'London's 31 May 529/2 An earth-mother barmaid. |
| 1859 All Y. Round No. 32. 126 The *earth-mouse (Lathyrus tuberosus), which the French peasant will not cultivate because, he says, it walks underground. |
| 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxiv. 7 *Erthemouyngis schulen be by placis. 1939 Civil Engineering XXXIV. 228 (title) The development of earth moving equipment for highway construction. 1941 Agricultural Engineering XXII. 19/1 Earth moving makes up the principal portion of construction work. Ibid. 24/1 Profit by experience of earth movers. 1959 B.S.I. News June 10/2 Giant earth⁓mover tyres. 1963 Times 24 Jan. 11/7 The earthmover, the caterpillar tractor. 1968 Daily Tel. 1 Nov. 19/4 Three or four heavy earth-moving vehicles started levelling the adjacent land. |
| 1755 Baker in Dalrymple Or. Rep. I. 172 (Y.) About 200 Families..employed in getting *Earth-oil out of Pitts. |
| 1785 G. Forster tr. Sparrman's Voy. Cape Gd. Hope I. 270 The aard-varken, or *earth-pig, which, probably, is a species of manis. 1962 M. Burton Syst. Dict. Mammals 195 (heading) Aardvark, earth-pig, ant-bear (Orycteropus afer). |
| 1923 L. C. Martin Colour & Methods of Colour Reprod. vi. 73 Generally speaking, the ‘*earth pigments’ are the most stable and satisfactory. |
| 1870 Lyell Student's Geol. vi. (ed. 4) 82 *Earth-pillars with stones on their tops are relics of the country worn away all around them. |
| 1591 Florio 2nd Fruites 141 Children, whores, and fugitiues..A man must not beleeue these runagate *earth⁓planets. |
| 1847 Brett & Little Compendium Improvements Electric Telegraphs 22 An *earth plate..which carries the current back by the conducting powers of the earth. 1872 Earth-plate [see earth-current]. |
| 1585 J. Higins tr. Junius Nomenclator (N.) Mushrooms, tadstooles, earthturfes, *earthpuffes. |
| 1871 Eng. Mech. 8 Sept. 627/1 *Earth return currents are not practical. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 227/2 Steinheil of Munich..discovered the use of the earth return. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 277/2 Earth return circuit, a telegraphic current using one transmission wire, the return current passing through the earth and thereby encountering a low resistance. 1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics v. 191 Later, when Earth-return vehicles become feasible, samples can be brought back. 1968 Times 23 Dec. 6/4 There is no reason in logic why it should not..eject them into an earth-return orbit. |
| c 1200 Ormin 12132 Nan eorþliȝ kinedom Here upponn *eorþeriche. |
| 1850 Carlyle Latter-d. Pamph. iv. 8 On what a bottomless volcano..separated from us by a thin *earth-rind, Society..in the present epoch, rests! 1871 Hartwig Subterr. W. i. 5 The history of the earth-rind opens to us a vista into time. |
| 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4471/2 We began..to fill the Fosse..with Fascines and *Earth-Sacks. |
| 1949 Rocket Jet Flying Spring 6 The ‘*earth satellite vehicle program’..is the most imagination-firing news we've heard in quite a while. 1950 Jrnl. Brit. Interplanetary Soc. IX. 155 As performances improve, so we may expect to see the appearance of the close-orbit Earth satellite vehicle. 1956 Collier's Year-Bk. 48/2 Plans to launch an earth satellite were announced in the middle of 1955. 1959 Davies & Palmer Radio Studies of Universe x. 180 A most spectacular and ambitious project..has been the launching of earth satellites by Russia and the U.S.A. |
| 1883 Mrs. Prestwich in Gd. Words 643/2 Glaciers and other agents of *earth-sculpture. |
| 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 184 Th' *earth-shaker Neptune. 1846 Grote Greece (1869) I. 55 The mighty Poseidon, the earth-shaker and the ruler of the sea. |
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 299 Mammertus..ordeyned Rogaciouns aȝenst *erþe schakynge. Ibid. vii. xv. (1527) 280 b, In ytalye was an erth-sakynge that dured xl dayes. 1634 Milton Comus 869 By the earth-shaking Neptune's mace. 1807 J. Barlow Columbiad iv. 10 p. 135 Earth-shaking storms and constellated skies. 1875 Longfellow Masq. Pandora iii. sp. 8 The earth-shaking trident of Poseidon. 1948 E. Sitwell Notebk. on Shakes. viii. 104 With the exception of two earth-shaking sentences, and one speech of great beauty..Iago never speaks ‘above a mortal mouth’. 1966 Ogilvy & Anderson Excurs. Number Theory xi. 144 Besides, what if a study is not of earth-shaking importance? |
| 1834 Nat. Philos. (U.K.S.) III. Astron. iii. 77/2 That part of the moon which receives no light directly from the sun, may, by indirectly receiving it from the earth, become..faintly visible. The appearance..has received the name of *earth-shine. 1876 G. Chambers Astron. 87 The Earth-shine is more luminous before the New Moon than after it. 1946 Nature 21 Dec. 907/1 The portion of the moon's surface that is lighted up by earthshine. 1963 Daily Tel. 20 May 26 (heading) Space man slept well... Kept out ‘earthshine’. |
| c 1315 Shoreham 124 Altha was an *erthe-schoke. 1816 Byron Siege Cor. xxxiii, All the living things that heard That deadly earth⁓shock disappear'd. |
| 1693 in Phil. Trans. XVII. 851 The Shrew-mouse or Erd, i.e. *Earth-shrew. |
| 1858 Sears Athan. ii. ix. 226 On this dark or *earth-side of his [Christ's] nature. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xiv, The earth-side of the grave. 1949 R. Heinlein Red Planet (1963) iv. 53 Many's the time he's told me stories about the school he went to back Earth⁓side. 1956 Galaxy Sci. Fiction XLIII. 11/2 Some Earth⁓side official of the Interstellar Prison Service. |
| 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick 79 It smells like another world, more strangely than the moon would to an *Earthsman. |
| 1871 Swinburne Songs bef. Sunrise 149 The *earth-soul Freedom, that only Lives, and that only is God. 1905 W. James Ess. Rad. Emp. (1912) iv. 136 Speculations like Fechner's, of an Earth-soul, of wider spans of consciousness enveloping narrower ones throughout the cosmos, are..philosophically quite in order. 1948 C. Day Lewis Poems 1943–47 64 You might well surmise They are earth-souls. |
| 1883 Chamb. Jrnl. 1 Dec. 760/2 A common *earth⁓spider, the tarantula. |
| 1881 Maxwell Electr. & Magn. I. 299 When P moves away from the *earth-spring it carries this charge with it. |
| 1816 Byron Siege Cor. v, Its *earth-stars melted into heaven. 1839 Bailey Festus xxviii. (1848) 335 Is the earth-star struggling still with death? 1885 W. H. Gibson in Harper's Mag. May 912/1 The fungus called the earth-star, Geaster hygrometricus, a plant of the puff-ball tribe. |
| 1880 Times 2 Nov. 4/5 There are huntsmen, whips, and grooms, kennel attendants, smiths, and *earth⁓stoppers to be employed. |
| 1875 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., *Earth Table..the plinth of a wall..or lowest course of projecting stones immediately above the ground. |
| 1869 Phillips Vesuv. ix. 261 Heat in some way generates the force of the *earth-wave. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 188 [In earthquakes] near the sea the water waves may be far more destructive than the earth waves. |
| 1884 *Earth-wax [see ozocerite]. 1958 W. T. O'Dea Social Hist. Lighting 216 Ozokerit, or ‘earth⁓wax’, found in the region of the Roumanian oil wells, later proved..superior, at a price, to paraffin wax candles. |
| 1908 F. Maire Mod. Pigments iv. 40 *Earth whites are so named to distinguish that class of pigments which owe their origin to mother earth in contradistinction to those which are derived from a metallic origin. |
| 1868 E. Atkinson tr. Ganot's Physics (ed. 3) 650 Into the other hole of the fuse a wire is placed which serves as *earth wire. 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 258 It is always advisable to earth-wire at least the last five supports on each side of every office, as a protection against the effects of lightning. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 512/1 For protection from lightning each pole has an ‘earth wire’ running from the top, down to the base. 1966 Earth wire [see earth v. 8]. |
| 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 215 *Earth-wiring... The object of the earth-wires is to prevent contact from arising through the leakage of currents from one wire at its point of support into another. Ibid. 216 In dry sandy soil or in rock the earth-wiring is therefore to be avoided. |
| 1904 *Earth-woman [see earth-man]. 1955 ‘J. Wyndham’ in ‘E. Crispin’ Best S.F. 72 He greeted Lellie [sc. a Martian] just as if she were an Earth woman. |
Add:
[A.] [I.] [2.] b. In
fig. phrases
to feel the earth move and
varr., expressing a sensation of (
esp. sexual) ecstasy.
colloq.| 1940 E. Hemingway For whom Bell Tolls xiii. 160 ‘Did thee feel the earth move?’ ‘Yes. As I died. Put thy arm around me, please.’ 1975 ‘D. Jordan’ Black Account xxxi. 158 Guy stared at her and I fancy it was at that moment that the earth began to move under him. 1986 Times 25 June 19/5 When she..tears into ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ you can feel the earth shifting under your feet. 1987 ‘M. Yorke’ Evidence to Destroy x. 97, I was in bed with your daughter, trying to make the earth move for her. |
[B.] [II.] earth station, a radio station located on the earth and used for relaying signals from satellites.
| 1962 N.Y. Times 11 July 16/5 The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, which built the installation, calls it ‘*Earth Station for Communicating by Satellite’. 1984 Broadcast 7 Dec. 12/1 (Advt.), The Bright Star transatlantic satellite path is the only two-way link capable of connecting to any North American earth station. |
▸ Imitative of a ground controller attempting to contact a spacecraft.
humorous.
Earth to (also calling)—— and variants: implying the person addressed is speaking or behaving in an abstracted manner, or is out of touch with reality.
| 1979 Campus Slang Mar. 3 Earth to——. Please pay attention. 1983 Atlantic (Nexis) May 91 Oh, Jeez, there she goes. Planet Earth calling Grace Poole! 1989 J. Churchill Grime & Punishment (1992) ix. 75 Earth calling Jane? Are you there? 1993 Independent 22 Aug. (Electronic ed.) 18 It's true his speech is urgent enough to prompt the ‘Planet Earth to Keanu’ tone of most published interviews with him. 2003 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 21 Mar. ii. 5/2 Their big conflict is she may have to move to New York. Earth to Donna, you're a flight attendant. You can visit, you know, although the thought apparently doesn't come to mind. |
▸
Earth Charter n. a document which (although not legally enforceable) details action and principles for environmental protection and sustainable development agreed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, June 1992 (also called
Rio Declaration;
cf. Agenda 21 n. at
agenda n. Additions); (also) any similar document containing recommendations for environmental protection.
| 1990 UN Chron. Dec. 63 Maurice Strong..proposed that the world meeting agree on an *Earth Charter and a ‘prioritized agenda’ to be known as Agenda 21 to implement it. 1994 Marine Policy 18 103/2 The Earth Council has the following elements:..Earth Charter. A statement of values for wide general acceptance will be articulated and promoted, building on the range of existing charters and declarations. 2001 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 2 Sept. i. 24/4 Multinational efforts like Earth Charter, which push nations and corporations to embrace a sense of ethical responsibility to the earth. |
▪ II. † earth, n.2 Obs. or
dial. Forms: 1
ierþ,
irþ,
yrþ,
earþ,
ærþ, 4–5
erþe, 6
earthe, 6–
earth.
[OE. *ęrþ, WS. ięrþ str. fem. (OTeut. type *arþi-z) f. *ar-, root of OE. ęrian, ear v.1 to plough + suffix as in birth.] 1. The action of ploughing; a ploughing. In
OE. also ‘ploughed land’ and ‘produce of arable land, a crop’ (Bosw.-Toller).
| c 890 K. ælfred Bæda iv. xxviii. (Bosw.) Ða ᵹeorn ðær sona up ᵹenihtsumlic yrþ and wæstm. a 1000 Rect. Sing. Pers. in Thorpe Laws (1840) 189 Feola syndan folcᵹerihtu..ben-feorm for ripe, ᵹyt-feorm for yrðe. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xviii (MS.) Þe more gardyne was of twenty days erþe oþer erynge [1495 erthe ar eryenge]. 1552 Huloet, Earth or earynge of Lande in some place taken for tyllage of lande, as the first earth..first plowynge styrringe. 1573 Tusser Husb xxxv. (1878) 84 Such lande as ye breake vp for barlie to sowe, two earthes at the least er ye sowe it bestowe. a 1813 Vancouver in A. Young Agric. Essex I. 203 One or two deep clean ploughings is all that can..be required..and one or both of these earths, under certain circumstances, had better be dispensed with. |
2. The soil turned up by the plough on the edge of the furrow.
| 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. 275 If the earths of the furrows are set on their edge, the harrows turn them back. |
▪ III. earth, v. (
ɜːθ)
Forms: α.
Sc. and
north. dial. 4–6
erde, 6
eird, 9
eard,
yird. β. 6–
earth.
[f. earth n.1; until 16th c. app. only Sc.] † 1. trans. To commit (a corpse) to the earth; to bury. (In
Sc. formerly the usual word for this sense; in
Eng. writers only
poet. or
rhet., with a reference to the etymology.) Now only
dial.| 1375 Barbour Bruce xiii. 666 And the laiff..In-to gret pittes erdit war. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. xii. 7 Robert oure secound Kyng..Wes erdyde in Skone, quhare he lyes. 1513 Douglas æneis v. ii. 12 The reliquies and bonis in feir Of my divyne fadir we erdit heir. 1557 Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 142 Though earthed be his corps, yet florish shall his fame. 1591 Greene Maiden's Dr. Wks. (1881–3) XIV. 316 His liuelesse bodie..Let that be earthed..in gorgeous wise. 1626 Dk. Buckhm. Sp. Ho. Lords in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 377 If my Posterity should not inherit the same fidelity, I should..be glad to see them earthed before me. 1742 R. Blair Grave 169 Why thy ado in earthing up a carcase? 1808 Poet. Register 73 We'll earth her tomorrow, 'Tis the only wise method to bury one's sorrow. 1832–53 Whistle-Binkie (Sc. Songs) Ser. ii. 100 But Lauchie did dee, and was welcomely yirdet. 1875 Whitby Gloss. (E.D.S.) Earded, consigned to the earth; buried. |
2. To plunge or hide in the earth; to cover with earth. Also
intr. (for
refl.) Only
poet. or
rhetorical. Also
fig.| 1648 Bp. Hall Select Th. §25 Let a man strictly examine his own affections, he shall find them so deeply earthed. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. xi. xliii, Seeds thrive When earth't. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 948 The miser earths his treasure. 1839 Bailey Festus (1848) 16 Could I, like Heaven's bolt, earthing quench myself, This moment would I, etc. |
3. Gardening. To heap the earth over (roots and stems of plants). Usually with
up.
| 1693 Sir R. Bulkeley, Maize, in Phil. Trans. XVII. 939 It must be earth'd up with the Howe twice or thrice in growing. 1719 London & Wise Compl. Gard. 299 In dry Soils, you must Earth up a little our Artichoaks. 1796 C. Marshall Garden. xv. (1813) 231 Earth up the plants frequently..a little at a time, in order to blanch them. 1881 Whitehead Hops 8 The plant centres being ‘earthed’ or covered over with a few shovels of earth. |
4. a. trans. To conceal in a hole or burrow.
| 1619 J. King Serm. 40 Beasts..earthed in their thickets and bogges. a 1635 Corbet Iter Bor. 127 The cunning men, like moles, Dwelt not in howses, but were earth't in holes. |
b. refl. (In 17th c. often
transf. and
fig.)
| 1609 Bp. Barlow Answ. Nameless Cath. 335 This wily Creature, fearing lest hee should bee taken by the..sent, hath earth'd himselfe backe againe into the 92 page. 1656 Artif. Handsomeness 137 He then retreats to this [stronghold] of Scandal, and earths himself in this burrough. 1719 D'Urfey Pills IV. 56 He Earths himself in Cellars deep. |
c. intr. for refl. of the fox, etc.: To run to his earth; to hide in the earth.
| 1622 Fletcher Span. Curate ii. i, They wil not die here, They will not Earth. 1634 Heywood Witches of Lanc. i. i. Wks. 1874 IV. 172 Perhaps some Foxe had earth'd there. 1713 Guardian No. 125 (1756) II. 163 Hence foxes earth'd, and wolves abhorr'd the day. c 1820 S Rogers Italy (1852) 188 Once again he earths, Slipping away to house with them beneath. 1882 Echo 20 Feb. 4/2 The vulp earthed at last, and had to be left for another day. |
5. trans. To drive (a fox, etc.) to his earth. Also
fig.| 1575 Turberv. Bk. Venerie 239 We earth and digge a Badgerd. 1719 D'Urfey Pills II. 270 The vixen's just now Earth'd. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iv. 96 The circling hunt, of noisy men..Pursuing, and pursu'd, each other's prey..Till death, that mighty hunter, earths them all. 1827 Blackw. Mag. XXI. 272 The consciousness of having now fairly..earthed the objects of this arduous search. |
6. intr. (See
quot.)
dial.| 1875 Parish Sussex Gloss., Earth, to turn up the ground as a mole does. |
7. In
Sugar-making. See
quot., and
cf. clayed.
| 1727–52 Chambers Cycl. II. s.v. Sugar, Earthed Sugar is that which is whitened by means of earth laid on the top of the forms it is put in to purge itself. |
8. Electr. To connect (a conductor) with the earth.
| 1885 Jrnl. Soc. Telegraph Engineers XIV. 454, I have myself seen a circuit ‘earthed’ at an intermediate station in the middle of a message. 1888 Science 13 July 18/1 In dry weather they [sc. conductors] are not earthed at all well. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 773/1 Let a conductor—say, a metallic sphere—be supported by a metal rod of negligible capacity whose other end is earthed. 1966 Buying Secondhand (Consumers' Assoc.) 72 If the appliance is intended to be earthed, make sure there is an earth wire fitted. |
Hence
earthed ppl. a. and
ˈearthing vbl. n. (also
attrib.).
| 1727–52 [see sense 7 above]. 1889 Daily News 25 Dec. 6/7 A piece of mechanism known as an ‘earthing device’, the invention of Major Cardew, which infallibly cuts off the current if a condition of danger occurs. 1898 Ibid. 3 May 5/3 The swaying to and fro of the earthed line in the field due to terrestrial magnetism. 1906 A. F. Collins Man. Wireless Telegr. 212 Earthed terminal. The wire connecting the plate buried in the earth and the aerial wire. 1909 Install. News III. 80/1 Mr. Leckie recommended earthing through a resistance. 1966 Buying Secondhand (Consumers' Assoc.) 72 With earthed appliances the continuity of the earth wire ought to be checked. |