terra Latin · revision 4567

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Livius Andronicus|origins=ine-pro *ters-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈtɛr.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛr.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''terra''' ''f'' (genitive terrae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Varro reports an archaic spelling ''tera'', and Naevius and Ennius have old genitives ''terrās'' and ''terrāī''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*tersā|t=earth]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ters-h₂-|t=dry land]], usually derived from the root [[ine-pro|*ters-|t=to dry out]] seen in [[torreō]], so that the word first meant “dry land”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Georges 1913) Cognate with [[osc|teras|t=earth]] and [[osc|terúm|t=area]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) [[sga|tír|t=territory]] and [[cy|tir|t=land]] are cognate if they come from a different stem of the same root.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Livius Andronicus speaks of someone falling wounded to the ground (''in terram'').^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates Livius Andronicus 280/260–before 200 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it was the dry land as opposed to the sea, as in ''terrā marīque'' “by land and sea”, the ground and its soil, the earth as a substance and one of the four elements, a land or country, and the earth as opposed to heaven.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The plural ''terrae'' and the phrase ''orbis terrārum'' meant the whole known world, and Cicero describes the earth as a sphere set in the middle of the universe.^(OLD 2012) ''Terra'' was also the goddess of the earth.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Döderlein contrasts it with [[tellūs]], the earth as a whole body or a goddess.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In medieval Latin it was a cultivated estate or holding, and arable land as opposed to vineyards and meadows.^(Niermeyer 1976) In New Latin ''Terra'' named the planet Earth.^(Wiktionary) It survives as [[it|terra]], [[fr|terre]], [[es|tierra]], [[pt|terra]] and [[ro|țară|t=country]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it of the ground.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses ''orbis terrārum'' of the whole world.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – English ''territory'' is recorded, from ''territōrium'', a derivative of ''terra''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Dry [[m|en|land]], as opposed to the sea, ''terrā marīque'', by land and sea; the mainland.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The ground, the surface of the earth.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The [[m|en|soil]], as producing crops.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Earth as a substance; [[m|en|clay]]; earth as one of the four [[m|en|element|alt=elements]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A land, country, region; a piece of land belonging to someone.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The earth as opposed to heaven; in the plural and in ''orbis terrārum'', the whole world.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The earth as a globe or [[m|en|planet]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Terra'', the goddess of the earth.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An [[m|en|estate]]; [[m|en|arable]] land.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[extorris]]

+ * [[terrārius]]

+ * [[terrēnus]]

+ * [[terreus]]

+ * [[terricola]]

+ * [[terrigenus]]

+ * [[territōrium]]

+ * [[terrōsus]]

+ * [[terrula]]

+ * [[terrulentus]]

+ * [[conterrāneus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[atterrāneus]]

+ * [[exterrāneus]]

+ * [[exterrēnus]]

+ * [[mediterreus]]

+ * [[subterrāneus]]

+ * [[subterrēnus]]

+ * [[subterreus]]

+ * [[territōriālis]]

+ * [[terrulentē]]

+ * [[torreō]]

+ * [[tellūs]]

+ * [[en|territory]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The phrase ''terrae fīlius'' “son of the earth” meant a man of unknown family.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}