terrestrial
/tɪˈɹɛstɹɪ.əl/US/tɪˈɹɛstɹɪ.əl/
terrestrial noun: a ground-dwelling plant. Also the alternative letter-case form of Terrestrial.
Noun (1)
terrestrial (plural terrestrials)
Adjective
terrestrial (not comparable)
- Of or relating to the Earth or its (native) inhabitants.
- Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 12 Aug 2013
- Synonyms:
- earthly
- Of, relating to, or composed of land or earth, as contrasted with bodies of water, with wetlands viewed as semiaquatic environs, or with aerial or space environs.
- Near-synonyms: land (attributive), landbased, landly
- quoted in 2022, C. F. G. Clark, The Curiosities of Dudley and the Black Country
[…] yet this stone [Cannock] is so Sulphurious and Terrestrial, not fit to make Iron; […]
- Living or growing in or on land (as opposed to other habitats or substrates).
- a terrestrial plant
- Typically, tarantulas are either terrestrial or arboreal, but the Chilobrachys natanicharum can live in both enivronments^([sic – meaning environments]), the researchers said, demonstrating its adaptability.2023 September 26, Hafsa Khalil, “Electric blue tarantula species discovered in Thailand”, in CNN, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2023
- Being composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals, as contrasted with gases, liquified gases, and dust.
- Near-synonyms: tellurian, telluric, terrene, Terran, rocky, metallic
- a terrestrial planet
- Concerned with the world or worldly matters.
- Near-synonyms: worldly, sublunary
- A genius bright and base, / Of towering talents, and terrestrial aims.1744, [Edward Young], “Night the Sixth. The Infidel Reclaim’d. In Two Parts. Containing, the Nature, Proof, and Importance of Immortality. Part the First. […]”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts...
- Of or pertaining to the second highest degree of glory.
- We are now living and obeying celestial laws that will make us candidates for celestial glory; or we are living terrestrial laws that will make us candidates for terrestrial glory; or telestial.1974 February, “A Sure Trumpet Sound: Quotations from President Lee”, in Ensign, page 77
- Theirs is an everlasting terrestrial inheritance because they rejected the truth when it was offered to them in mortality.1977 August, Bruce R. McConkie, “A New Commandment: Save Thyself and Thy Kindred!”, in Tambuli, page 5
- Broadcast using radio waves as opposed to satellite or cable.
Noun (2) capitalized: Terrestrial
Terrestrial (plural Terrestrials)
- An inhabitant of the planet Earth.
- It will be manifest that natural scenery must present many beautiful varieties of effect altogether unfamiliar to us terrestrials, who know of no colours in scenery except those inherent in the objects themselves which form the landscape.1873, Richard Anthony Proctor, The Expanse of Heaven, page 235
- The other was not a Terrestrial, but a visiting Martian.1925, Hugo Gernsback, Ralph 124C 41+, page 41
Also used as
terrestrial is also the alternative letter-case form of Terrestrial.
terrestrial meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Gujarati
terrestrial in Hindi
- of, relating to, or inhabiting the Earth or its inhabitants
- पार्थिव pārthiv
- of, pertaining to, or made of land
- थलीय thalīya, स्थलीय sthalīya
- living or growing on land; not aquatic
- थलीय thalīya, थलचर thalcar
- concerned with the worldly matters
- सांसारिक sānsārik, लौकिक laukik
terrestrial in Marathi
- स्थलीय
terrestrial in Malayalam
- ഭൌമപരം
terrestrial in Gujarati
- પાર્થિવ, સ્થલીય
More languagesFewer languages
- terrestrial in Tagalog
- dutain, dalatning
- terrestrial in Arabic
- أَرْضِيّ ʔarḍiyy
Examples of terrestrial in a sentence
- Endoliths have been found in a variety of environments, from the shallow surface to the deep terrestrial and ocean crust.
- Aristotle used vernacular names or names borrowed from terrestrial animals, such as mule, wolf or “sea toad”
- Nouns in High Valyrian fall into four grammatical genders: lunar, solar, aquatic, and terrestrial.
Synonyms of terrestrial
Antonyms
Forms of terrestrial
| plural | terrestrials |
|---|---|
| plural | Terrestrials |
Origin of terrestrial
From Middle English terrestrialle, from terrestre or Latin terrestris, from terra (“land, earth, ground”), with the suffix -al.
From Latin terrestris, from terra (“land, earth, ground”).
Words formed from terrestrial
- aeroterrestrial
- circumterrestrial
- euterrestrial
- extraterrestrial
- fluvioterrestrial
- hyperterrestrial
- intraterrestrial
- juxtaterrestrial
- limnoterrestrial
- nonterrestrial
- preterrestrial
- semiterrestrial
- telestial
- terrestrial albedo
- terrestrial branch
- Terrestrial Dynamical Time
- terrestrial guenon
- terrestrialism
- terrestriality
- terrestrialization
- terrestrialize
- terrestrially
- terrestrial navigation
- terrestrialness
- terrestrial planet
- terrestrial telescope
- Terrestrial Time
- ultraterrestrial
- unterrestrial
Phrases with terrestrial
Questions about terrestrial
- What does terrestrial mean?
- Terrestrial means a ground-dwelling plant.
- What is terrestrial in Hindi?
- Terrestrial in Hindi is पार्थिव (pārthiv), थलीय (thalīya), स्थलीय (sthalīya). See Terrestrial meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is terrestrial?
- Terrestrial can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce terrestrial?
- Terrestrial is pronounced /tɪˈɹɛstɹɪ.əl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of terrestrial?
- The plural of terrestrial is terrestrials.
Words near terrestrial in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: terrestrial (page history and authors); Terrestrial (page history and authors); terrestrial (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); terrestrial (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); terrestrial (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-terrestrial.wav.
Cite this entry: “terrestrial.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/terrestrial. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.