terra

Borrowed from Latin terra

terra

1. (geography, geology, planetography, planetology, astronomy) A geologic and geographic region of a celestial body which is a highland analogous to a continent or large landmass.

Borrowed from Latin terra.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛɹə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɹə
• Homophone: terror (non-rhotic)

terra (countable and uncountable, plural terras or terrae)

1. (literary) Earth, soil, land, or ground as a physical surface.
2. (archaic) The material world as opposed to the heavens.
3. A continent or large landmass, especially on another planet or moon; e.g. Arabia Terra or Aphrodite Terra.
4. A lunar highland or mountainous region with relatively high albedo; e.g. Terra Nivium.

• Arter, arrêt, arter, rater, retar, tarre

Inherited from Old Catalan terra, from Latin terra.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈtɛ.rə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈtɛ.ra]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛra

terra f (plural terres)

1. earth
2. land

terra m (plural terres)

1. ground

• “terra”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “terra”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “terra” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “terra”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

• tarra

From Latin terra, from Proto-Italic *terza. Cognates include Gallurese tarra, Italian terra and French terre.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛrːa/
• Hyphenation: ter‧ra
• Rhymes: -ɛrːa

terra f (plural terre)

1. earth
2. land
3. soil

• “terra, tarra” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

terra

1. illative singular of tera

From Old Norse þerra.

terra (third person singular past indicative terraði, third person plural past indicative terraðu, supine terrað)

1. to dry

• torna, turka

• fukta, slaga, væta

terra

1. third-person singular past historic of terrer

• arrêt, errât, rater

From Old Galician-Portuguese terra, from Latin terra. Cognate with Portuguese terra, Catalan terra, and Spanish tierra.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛra/ [ˈt̪ɛ.rɐ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛra
• Hyphenation: te‧rra

terra f (plural terras)

1. soil, earth
2. land, country
3. (in the plural) real estate possessions or heritage

• soterrar
• terreo
• territorio

• Terra

• “terra”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “terra”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “terra”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “terra”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “terra”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “terra”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “terra”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛr.ra/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrra
• Hyphenation: tèr‧ra

Inherited from Latin terra, from Proto-Italic *terzā, from Proto-Indo-European *ters-eh₂, from *ters- (“dry”).

• tera, terri, tiera, tierra (archaic, dialectal)

terra f (plural terre)

1. ground
2. (colloquial, atechnical synonym of suolo (“terreno”, “soil”)) soil

   Synonyms: suolo, terreno

From Terra (“Earth”).

terra f (plural terre)

1. (colloquial, astronomy, by extension of Terra) planet

   Synonym: pianeta

• geo-
• luna
• mondo
• sole

From Proto-Italic *terzā, from Proto-Indo-European *ters-eh₂, from *ters- (“dry”). Doublet of torreō. Cognate with Ancient Greek τέρσομαι (térsomai), Old Irish tír, Sanskrit तृषा (tṛ́ṣā), Old English þurst (whence English thirst). Compare the semantics of Ancient Greek Ancient Greek χέρσος (khérsos).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛr.ra]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛr.ra]

terra f (genitive terrae); first declension

1. dry land (as opposed to watery parts of the Earth)
2. ground, floor (the surface of the land)

   Synonym: humus

3. earth, soil, dirt, clay, clod (the substance generally composing the dry land)

   Synonyms: solum, tellūs, humus

   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 2.346–353:

     Quod superest, quaecumque premes virgulta per agros
     sparge fimo pingui et multa memor occule terra,
     aut lapidem bibulum aut squalentis infode conchas;
     inter enim labentur aquae, tenuisque subibit
     halitus, atque animos tollent sata. Iamque reperti
     qui saxo super atque ingentis pondere testae
     urgerent: hoc effusos munimen ad imbris,
     hoc, ubi hiulca siti findit Canis aestifer arva.

     • Translation by James B. Greenough

       For the rest, whate'er
       The sets thou plantest in thy fields, thereon
       Strew refuse rich, and with abundant earth
       Take heed to hide them, and dig in withal
       Rough shells or porous stone, for therebetween
       Will water trickle and fine vapour creep,
       And so the plants their drooping spirits raise.
       Aye, and there have been, who with weight of stone
       Or heavy potsherd press them from above;
       This serves for shield in pelting showers, and this
       When the hot dog-star chaps the fields with drought.

4. land, country, region, territory (any given area of dry land)
   • 8 CE – 12 CE, Ovidius, Tristia 1.127–128:

     Longa via est, properā! nōbīs habitābitur orbis
     ultimus, ā terrā terra remōta meā.

     • Translation by A. S. Kline

       Quick, it’s a long way! I’ll be alive here at the end
       of the earth, in a land that’s far away from my land.
       (The poet writes from exile.)

   • c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Daniel 1:2:

     […] et asportavit ea in terram Sennaar in domum dei sui […]

     • Translation by King James Version

       […] which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god […]

5. (chiefly in the plural) earth (the entire surface of planet Earth; dry land and sea together, as opposed to the heavens)
   • c. 194 BCE, Plautus, Poenulus 5.4.105–110:

     [Agorastocles] Quaeso, qui lubet tam diu tenere collum?
     Omitte saltem tu altera. Nolo ego istuc. [Adelphasium] Enicas me.
     Prius quam tibi desponderit. [Agorastocles] Mitto. [Adelphasium] Sperate, salve.
     [Hanno] Condamus alter alterum ergo in nervom bracchialem.
     Quibus nunc in terra melius est? [Agorastocles] Eveniunt digna dignis.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon III:

     Omne adeo genus in terris hominumque ferarumque
     et genus aequoreum, pecudes pictaeque volucres,
     in furias ignemque ruunt: amor omnibus idem.

     • Translation by A. S. Kline

       Every species on earth, man and creature, and the species
       of the sea, and cattle and bright-feathered birds,
       rush about in fire and frenzy: love’s the same for all.

7. the Earth, the globe, the world (as a celestial object)
   • 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes 1.17.40:

     […] num igitur dubitamus—? an sicut pleraque? quamquam hoc quidem minime; persuadent enim mathematici terram in medio mundo sitam ad universi caeli complexum quasi puncti instar optinere, quod κέντρον illi vocant […]

     • Translation by Charles Duke Yonge

       […] Do we, then, doubt, as we do in other cases (though I think here is very little room for doubt in this case, for the mathematicians prove the facts to us), that the earth is placed in the midst of the universe, being, as it were, a sort of point, which they call a κέντρον, surrounded by the whole heavens […]

The use of terra to describe the globe as a heavenly body was already established in antiquity, but in New Latin, as the Earth became more indistinguishable from other planets, it gradually came to be treated as a proper noun (see Terra). The English Earth underwent this same transition.

According to some manuscripts, a possible locative terrae was in use. This usage is mentioned in Forcellini, and Lewis & Short, while omitting the existence of such a locative, quotes the same passages under other relevant entries.

First-declension noun.

• “terra”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “terra”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "terra", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “terra”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the earth; the glob: orbis terrae, terrarum
    
  • the continent: (terra) continens (B. G. 5. 8. 2)
    
  • an inland region; the interior: terra (regio) mediterranea
    
  • the earth brings forth fruit, crops: terra effert (more rarely fert, but not profert) fruges
    
  • the earth brings forth fruit abundantly: terra fundit fruges
    
  • the vegetable kingdom: ea, quae terra gignit
    
  • the vegetable kingdom: ea, quae e terra gignuntur
    
  • the vegetable kingdom: ea, quae a terra stirpibus continentur
    
  • the vegetable kingdom: ea quorum stirpes terra continentur (N. D. 2. 10. 26)
    
  • the atmosphere: aer terrae circumiectus or circumfusus
    
  • the atmosphere: aer qui est terrae proximus
    
  • a zone: orbis, pars (terrae), cingulus
    
  • to be contiguous, adjacent to a country: tangere, attingere terram
    
  • to be contiguous, adjacent to a country: finitimum esse terrae
    
  • to have the same boundaries; to be coterminous: continentem esse terrae or cum terra (Fam. 15. 2. 2)
    
  • the empire reaches to the ends of the world: imperium orbis terrarum terminis definitur
    
  • the most distant countries, the world's end: ultimae terrae
    
  • the most distant countries, the world's end: extremae terrae partes
    
  • to begin a journey (on foot, on horseback, by land): iter ingredi (pedibus, equo, terra)
    
  • to travel through the most remote countries: disiunctissimas ultimas terras peragrare (not permigrare)
    
  • to fall to the earth: in terram cadere, decidere
    
  • to sink into the earth: in terram demergi
    
  • to keep one's eyes on the ground: oculos figere in terra and in terram
    
  • geography: terrarum or regionum descriptio (geographia)
    
  • to conquer a country: terra potiri
    
  • to reduce a country to subjection to oneself: terram suae dicionis facere
    
  • to make oneself master of a people, country: populum, terram suo imperio, suae potestati subicere (not sibi by itself)
    
  • to disembark troops: milites in terram, in terra exponere
    
  • the storm drives some one on an unknown coast: procella (tempestas) aliquem ex alto ad ignotas terras (oras) defert
    
  • to land (of people): appellere navem (ad terram, litus)
    
  • to land, disembark: exire, egredi in terram
    
  • to be unable to land: portu, terra prohiberi (B. C. 3. 15)
    
• “terra”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “terra”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

• errat

Inherited from Latin terra.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛrrə/

terra f (plural terre)

1. land

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 1623: “cade bocconi (colla pancia in terra)” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it

Inherited from Latin terra.

• IPA^(key): [tɛ.ra]
• Rhymes: -ɛra
• Hyphenation: te‧rra

terra f (plural terras)

1. land; region; territory
2. ground (the surface of the Earth outside buildings)

   Synonym: chão

3. dry land (places outside a body of water)
4. field (wide, open space used to grow crops or to hold farm animals)
5. world; the Earth

• Galician: terra
• Portuguese: terra (see there for further descendants)

• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2026), “terra”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN

From Latin terra, from Proto-Italic *terzā, from Proto-Indo-European *ters-eh₂, from *ters- (“dry”).

terra f (oblique plural terras, nominative singular terra, nominative plural terras)

1. land

• terrassa

• Occitan: tèrra

• (Northeast Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ.ha/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛʁɐ
• Homophone: Terra
• Hyphenation: ter‧ra

From Old Galician-Portuguese terra, from Latin terra.

terra f (plural terras)

2. land; region; territory (area associated with something)

   Cuidado, essa é a terra dos caçadores de cabeças.

   Be careful, that is the land of the headhunters.

4. ground (the surface of the Earth outside buildings)

   Deixa essa pedra na terra.

   Leave that rock on the ground.

6. land; property (partitioned and measurable area owned by someone)

   Compramos uma terra para criar gado.

   We bought land to raise cattle.

8. (sailing) land; dry land; ground (places outside a body of water)

   Após meses de viagem, finalmente chegaram em terra.

   After months of travel, they finally arrived on land.

10. earth; soil (mixture of sand and organic material found on the ground)

    A camisa está suja de terra.

    The shirt is dirty with soil.

12. land; homeland

    Lá na minha terra tem muitas capivaras.

    There are a lot of capybaras in my homeland.

• (region): região, território
• (ground): chão, solo
• (property): terreno
• (dry land): terra firme
• (homeland): terra natal, terrinha

• terrinha (diminutive)

• Guinea-Bissau Creole: tera
• Kabuverdianu: téra
• Papiamentu: tera
• → Saramaccan: téla

terra f

1. alternative letter-case form of Terra

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

terra

1. inflection of terrar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “terra”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “terra”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “terra”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “terra”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• tiara (Sursilvan)

From Latin terra.

terra f (plural terras)

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter) land, soil
2. (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter) country, land
4. (capitalized, proper noun, Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) the planet Earth

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) pajais
• (Sutsilvan) pajis
• (Surmiran) paeis
• (Puter) terrain

From Latin terra.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛʐʐa/, /ˈtɛrra/
• Hyphenation: tèr‧ra

terra f (plural terri)

1. land
2. earth
3. soil
4. ground