terra

Forms

terra f (plural terres)^[1] The DCVB records the pronunciations [ˈtɛrə], [ˈtɛra] and [ˈtɛrɛ], with an open or a less open vowel.^[2] In the sense of floor the word is masculine in the Catalan of Barcelona (el terra), and the DIEC2 gives this sense as masculine.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan terra, which is inherited from Latin terra (“dry land, earth”).^{[4][2][5][6][1]}

The same Latin word is Occitan tèrra, Spanish tierra, Portuguese terra, French terre, Italian terra and Romanian țară (“country”).^[7][1]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *tersā- and Proto-Indo-European *ters-h₂- (“dry land”), from the root *ters- (“to dry out”) of torreō (“to parch”).^[8][1] He compares Old Irish tír (“territory”), with some doubt.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines gives as the first record a document of 1075 in Latin with the phrase ipsa terra a poblar “the land to be settled”, and then the Homilies d'Organyà.^[4] The Homilies speak of Christ walking through the lands of Jerusalem (per les terres de Jherusalem) and of the highest mountain in the land of the river Jordan.^[4] A document of the 12th century already uses the word for a district, the valley of Ribes.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The medieval texts have most of the modern senses: the ground one stands on, as when Jaume I and his men kneel and kiss the ground (besam la terra); this world as against heaven; a territory; a country or homeland, as in Bernat Metge's nobles homens de ma terra; and the planet.^[9] The DCVB adds the old sense of one of the four elements, with air, water and fire.^[2]

The derivatives are old: soterrar “to bury” appears in Jaume I, soterrani in the 13th century, aterrar in the 14th, terrada in 1369 and enterrar in 1442;^[5] parterre was borrowed from French.^[5] In modern use the masculine el terra, for the floor of a room, is distinguished from the feminine noun.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1075 – a Latin document: ipsa terra a poblar.^[4]
• Late 12th or early 13th century – terra and terres in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[4][10]
• 12th century – a document uses la sua terra for the valley of Ribes.^[4]
• 13th century – Jaume I's chronicle: besam la terra.^[9]
• 1324 – the cartulary of Vilafranca speaks of la terra de Conflent.^[4]
• 1369 – first record of terrada.^[5]
• 1381 – Bernat Metge: ma terra, my country.^[9]
• 1442 – first record of enterrar.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually capitalised) The Earth, the planet we live on.^[3][6][1]
2. This world, as against the afterlife.^[3][6]
3. land, as opposed to the sea or the air: Després de deu dies van veure terra.^[3][6][1]
4. The ground, the surface on which people stand and things rest: Va caure de genolls a terra.^[3][6]
5. (masculine) The floor of a room or building: El terra de la cuina és de rajola.^[3][6][1]
6. A region, country or homeland: Sempre parlava amb enyor de la seva terra.^[3][9]
7. soil, the soft material of the earth's crust used for growing plants: terra de conreu.^[3][6]
8. (electricity) Earth or ground: the mass of the earth used as a conductor, or a cable connected to it.^[3]

Word family

• aterrar
• desterrar
• desterrament
• enterrar
• enterrament
• enterramorts
• desenterrar
• soterrar
• soterrament
• terrada
• terral
• terraire

Related words

• conterrani
• subterrani
• soterrani
• parterre
• Latin terra
• Spanish tierra
• Occitan tèrra

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. terra
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. terra
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 8, 439
5. ^ a b c d e Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 895
6. ^ a b c d e f g Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. terra
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. terra
10. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. terra