Word.ws English Dictionary

terrene

/təˈɹiːn/

terrene adjective: pertaining to earth or the material world; earthly, terrestrial (as opposed to heavenly or marine). Also the dated form of tureen.

Adjective (1)

terrene (comparative more terrene, superlative most terrene)

  1. Pertaining to earth or the material world; earthly, terrestrial (as opposed to heavenly or marine).
    • God set before him a mortal and immortal life, a nature celestial and terrene.1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5)
    • Even Crovvns and Diadems, the moſt ſplendid parts of terrene attains; are akin to that, vvhich to day is in the field, and to morrovv is cut dovvn, and vvither'd: […]1661, Joseph Glanvill, chapter XVII, in The Vanity of Dogmatizing: Or Confidence in Opinions. […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC, pages 237–238
  2. Made of matter (as opposed to antimatter).
    Antonyms:
    contraterrene

Noun (1)

terrene

  1. (poetic) The Earth's surface; the earth; the ground.
    • Tenfold the length of this terrene1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...

Noun (2) capitalized: Terrene

Terrene (plural Terrenes)

  1. Synonym of Terran (“an inhabitant of Earth; an earthling”).
    Synonyms:
    Terran

Adjective (2) capitalized: Terrene

Terrene (not comparable)

  1. Synonym of Terran (“of Earth; of terrestrial origin”).
    Synonyms:
    Terran

Also used as

terrene is also the dated form of tureen.

Examples of terrene in a sentence

  • The common conceptions of the matters which lie at the basis of our terrene experience1882, Laurens P. Hickok, “The Understanding”, in Empirical Psychology, Boston: Ginn, Heath & Co., page 87:
  • For the earth was both celestial and terrene, the down here and the up there.1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!:

Synonyms of terrene

Antonyms

Forms of terrene

Adjective
comparativemore terrene
superlativemost terrene
Noun
pluralterrenes
pluralTerrenes

Origin of terrene

From Middle English terrene, from Anglo-Norman terriene, feminine of terrien, from Latin terrēnus, from terra (“earth”).

See terrene.

Words formed from terrene

Words that rhyme with terrene

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about terrene

What does terrene mean?
Terrene means pertaining to earth or the material world; earthly, terrestrial (as opposed to heavenly or marine).
How do you use terrene in a sentence?
The common conceptions of the matters which lie at the basis of our terrene experience
What part of speech is terrene?
Terrene can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce terrene?
Terrene is pronounced /təˈɹiːn/.

Words near terrene in the dictionary

  1. terrellas
  2. Terrels
  3. terrenal
  4. Terrence
  5. Terrenceville
  6. terrene
  7. Terrene Sea
  8. terrenely
  9. terrenes
  10. Terreneuvian
  11. terrenity

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: terrene (page history and authors); Terrene (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-terrene.wav.

Cite this entry: “terrene.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/terrene. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.