earthy, a.
(ˈɜːθɪ)
[f. earth n.1 + -y.]
I. 1. a. Of material substances: That is of the nature of earth or soil; having the characteristic properties of earth; resembling earth in some specific property. Of minerals: Without lustre, friable, and rough to the touch; also, containing impurities of the nature of earth, as in earthy cobalt, earthy hæmatite, earthy manganese, etc.
| 1667 Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual., The Earthy powder, I obtain'd from already distill'd Rain water. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth (J.) All water..is..stored with matter, light in comparison of the common mineral earthy matter. 1797 M. Baillie Morb. Anat. (1807) 284 The kidneys have been said to be converted into an earthy substance. 1843 Portlock Geol. 225 Earthy Hæmatite is found at Bardahessigh. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. II. 293 An excess of vegetable matter is..to be remedied by the application of earthy materials. 1863–82 Watts Dict. Chem. III. 814 Earthy Cobalt is a wad in which oxide of cobalt sometimes occurs to the amount of 33 per cent. 1877 Green Phys. Geol. ii. §5. 46 Crystalline rocks occasionally put on a loose friable form and are then said to be earthy. |
b. Of qualities, etc.: Characteristic of earth. So
earthy taste,
earthy smell,
earthy colour.
earthy fracture: see
quot. 1817.
| 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. ii. ix. (Arb.) 131 The skyn is of earthy coloure. 1626 Bacon Sylva §387 All sweet Smells have joyned with them some Earthy or Crude Odors. 1817 R. Jameson Char. Min. 235 When the fracture surface shews a great number of very small elevations and depressions, which make it appear rough, it is called earthy. 1839 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 508 An earthy fracture. 1840 R. Dana Bef. Mast xxxv. 133 The crispness of the raw onion, with the earthy taste. |
c. Consisting of earth (said of the ground;
cf. sandy), or of material resembling earth. Said
fig. of the human body,
esp. of a dead body.
| a 1586 Sidney Ps. xcvi, Starry roofe, and earthy floore. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iv. i. 219 And soone lye Richard in an Earthie Pit. 1593 ― 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 147 His dead and earthy Image. a 1652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. viii. 380 The soul must be wholly dissolved from this earthy body in which it is so deeply immersed. 1854 Hooker Himal. Jrnls. I. ii. 46 The..egg-like earthy chrysalis of the Sphynx Atropos. |
d. Electr. (See
quot. 1940.)
| 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegr. 257 If an underground wire becomes earthy, owing to the insulating covering being partly removed, and the conductor being thus laid bare, [etc.]. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 278/1 Earthy, said of (1) circuits when they are connected to earth, either directly..or through a condenser; (2) any point in a communicating system..which is at earth potential, although not actually connected to earth, through zero impedance. 1945 Electronic Engin. XVII. 735 The ‘earthy’ terminal is a shrouded insulated terminal which is connected to the earth terminal of the case. 1949 Ibid. XXI. 359 The feedback may be very conveniently taken from the earthy end of the cathode load resistor. |
¶ humorously.
| 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz (1877) 69 A damp earthy child. |
† 2. a. Having the properties of the ‘element’ earth, as distinguished from those of fire, air, or water; heavy, gross. So
earthy vapour.
Obs.| 1626 Bacon Sylva §390 When they [flowers] are Crushed, the Grosser and more Earthy Spirit cometh out with the Finer and troubleth it. 1641 Wilkins Math. Magic (J.) Lamps are inflamed by the admission of new air, when the sepulchres are opened, as we see in fat earthy vapours. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. 76 The Clouds are attracted out of moist and watry, and also earthy Vapours. |
b. fig. Grossly material, coarse, dull, unrefined. Sometimes with mixture of 1.
| 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 65 The sense of touching..is most earthy of all the rest. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 273 Thou wast a Spirit too delicate To act her earthy, and abhor'd commands. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. ii. (1675) 176 Men whom..he was wont to undervalue, as being far more Earthy than himself. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits xiv. Literature Wks. (Bohn) II. 103 They [the English] delight in strong earthy expressions..coarsely true to the human body. 1868 Nettleship Browning ii. 74 The dumb striving of a humanity prisoned in too earthy a chamber. |
3. Chem. Pertaining to the class of substances technically called ‘earths’, or to one of those substances; in
mod. use, pertaining to the class of metallic oxides so designated.
† Also
quasi-n.| 1718 Quincy Compl. Disp. 10 The Particles of Sal Alcali do consist of earthy and acid united together. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 135 Bodies have been divided into six classes, saline, inflammable, metallic, earthy, watery, and aerial. 1805 W. Saunders Min. Waters 40 Sulphat of Lime..is one of the commonest of all the earthy salts that are found in natural springs. 1809 Med. Jrnl. XXI. 475 Earthy carbonates. 1863–82 Watts Dict. Chem. II. 360 Baryta, strontia, and lime..are sometimes designated earthy alkalis. 1883 Syd. Soc. Lex., Eastbourne. There is an earthy spring here of little moment. |
4. Pertaining to the ground, or to what is below the ground; dwelling inside the earth; resembling a place underground.
| 1665 Dryden Indian Emp. ii. i. Wks. (1821) II. 313 Those earthy spirits black and envious are. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II. 106 Beneath the earthy surface of the globe, we shall be able to trace its levelling and its dreadful energy. 1848 Dickens Dombey (C.D. ed.) 36 Little Paul might have asked with Hamlet ‘into my grave?’ so chill and earthy was the place. |
† 5. Pertaining to the earth in its geographical or astronomical aspect.
Obs.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. v. (1495) 443 The ryuer Gyon hyghte Nilus..and is callyd the joynynge of the erthe, other erthy. 1640 Wilkins New Planet ii. (1684) 115 The gravity and magnitude of this Earthy Globe, do make it altogether unfit for so swift a Motion. 1721–1800 Bailey, Earthy Triplicity [in Astrology], the Signs Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. |
6. Dwelling or existing on the earth; characteristic of earthly as opposed to heavenly existence. Now only with a mixture of sense 1, 1 c, or 2 b, as in the Biblical phrase
of the earth, earthy.
| 1595 Shakes. John iii. i. 147 What earthie name to Interrogatories, Can task the free breath of a sacred King? 1609 Chapman End of Learn. in Farr S.P. (1848) 253 Let a scholar all earthy volumes carrie, He will be but a walking dicionarie. 1615 ― Odyss. vii. 290 The impious race Of earthy giants, that would heaven outface. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 583 If Spirit of other sort..have oreleapt these earthie bounds. 1682 Norris Hierocles 19 As apt to dwell and converse upon the Earth, and inform earthy bodies. 1829 H. Neele Lit. Rem. 45 The latter [Shakspeare] is of the earth, earthy. 1869 Sat. Rev. 13 Feb. 219 The..muse Urania is almost his only patroness; from her eight earthier sisters he gets hardly any assistance. |
7. Comb.| a 1658 Cleveland Gen. Poems (1677) 167 O that in this case we were Earthy-minded. |
| 1923 W. Deeping Secret Sanctuary vi. 62 A lean, peevish, earthy-faced man in a hard felt hat. |
| 1922 D. H. Lawrence England, My England 240 Then he removed her saturated, earthy-smelling clothing. |