terra Italian · revision 37738

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=960, Placiti campani|origins=ine-pro *ters-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtɛr.ra/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''terra''' ''f'' (plural terre)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and dialect forms include [[roa-oit|tera]], [[roa-oit|terri]] and [[roa-oit|tiera]], and Old Italian had a plural ''le terra''.^(GDLI|20, 941)^(Wiktionary) In parts of Tuscany, such as the Mugello, the word was pronounced ''tera'' with a single /r/.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|terra|t=dry land, earth; country]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is panromance: [[fr|terre]], [[oc|terra]], [[ca|terra]], [[es|tierra]], [[pt|terra]], [[sc|terra]] and [[ro|țară]], which in Romanian has narrowed to “country”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ Latin ⟨terra⟩ goes back to [[itc-pro|*terzā]] (de Vaan's ⟨*tersā-⟩), and is generally derived from the root of [[m|la|torreō|t=to parch, dry]], so that it first meant “the dry (land)” as opposed to water.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968) Wiktionary reconstructs [[ine-pro|*ters-eh₂]], from [[m|ine-pro|*ters-|t=dry]].^(Wiktionary) Cognates are [[osc|terúm]] “territory” and [[sga|tír]] “land; dry”, though de Vaan notes that the Celtic forms need a different suffix.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010) Italian [[torrido]] continues the same root.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word is in the Placiti campani of 960, the earliest documents in Italian, for land owned as a holding: “Sao ko kelle terre, per kelle fini que ki contene…” (I know that those lands, within the boundaries described here…).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Latin had already used the word for the element opposed to the sea, for the inhabited world and for a country, and DELI notes how productive it remained.^(DELI 1999) In Italian the sense “region, country” is in the Breve di Montieri of 1219, and the Earth as the planet of human life in Francis of Assisi (about 1224).^(DELI 1999) The dry land as opposed to the sea is in Dante's ''Commedia'' (1300–1313), the soil in a 14th-century translation of Augustine, and the countryside in a 14th-century Bible translation.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian also used ''terra'' for a walled town or castle (Matteo Villani) and for the people of the world (Brunetto Latini).^(DEI|3762)

+

+ Technical senses followed: in chemistry from the 18th century, and in electricity the earth or ground of a circuit, recorded in 1937.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3762) Compounds include ''terracotta'' (Boccaccio, 1341–1342), ''terraferma'' (13th century, perhaps a calque of a Greek sailors' term) and ''terrapieno'' (Guicciardini, before 1540).^(DELI 1999) English took ''terra'' in Latin and Italian phrases for minerals and medicines, such as ''terra alba'' (1871), and ''terra incognita''.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 960 – The Placiti campani use ''terre'' for landholdings.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1219 – The Breve di Montieri uses the word for a region.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1224 – Francis of Assisi uses it for the Earth.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for dry land as opposed to the sea.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1341–1342 – Boccaccio uses ''terra cotta''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1571 – Benvenuto Cellini uses it for a powdery natural substance.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1937 – The electrical sense “earth, ground” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(usually capitalised)'' The [[m|en|Earth]], the third planet from the Sun.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The world of human life, as opposed to heaven: ''come in cielo così in terra''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Dry [[m|en|land]], as opposed to the sea: ''Dopo dieci giorni di navigazione avvistarono terra.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A region or territory; a country, homeland: ''tornare nella propria terra''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The ground, the surface one walks on: ''Il bicchiere è caduto a terra.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # [[m|en|soil]], earth, the loose material of the ground: ''un vaso pieno di terra''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A piece of land, a farm or estate; in the plural, landed property.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(electricity)'' [[m|en|earth]], ground: ''presa di terra''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[atterrare]]

+ * [[interrare]]

+ * [[sotterrare]]

+ * [[sterrare]]

+ * [[terracotta]]

+ * [[terraferma]]

+ * [[terraglia]]

+ * [[terrapieno]]

+ * [[terrazza]]

+ * [[terrazzo]]

+ * [[terriccio]]

+ * [[terriero]]

+ * [[terroso]]

+ * [[retroterra]]

+ * [[sottoterra]]

+ * [[terranova]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[terreno]]

+ * [[terrestre]]

+ * [[terremoto]]

+ * [[territorio]]

+ * [[terragno]]

+ * [[sotterraneo]]

+ * [[torrido]]

+ * [[la|terra]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed expressions include ''muovere cielo e terra'' “to move heaven and earth”, ''non stare né in cielo né in terra'' “to be utterly absurd” and ''con i piedi per terra'' “down to earth”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003) ''Terra terra'' means “commonplace, unambitious”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}