English
tellurian
Tellurian comes from Latin tellūs ‘earth, ground’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtellūs‘earth, ground’
- Englishearliest quotation 1771tellurian
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtellūs‘earth, ground’
- Englishearliest quotation 1771tellurian
Earliest quotation: 1771, Benjamin Martin, Of the Tellurian: “The Second Part of this Orrery I call a…”
Formed from -ian
The story
From Latin tellūs (‘earth, ground; the globe, planet Earth; country, land’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (‘ground, bottom’), + -ian (suffix meaning "from, related to, or like" when forming an adjective, or "one from, belonging to, relating to, or like" when forming a noun).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- ‘ground, bottom’
talent, tolerance, toll, atlas, tolerate, tolerant, intolerable, tolerable, toleration, extol, 17 more
Today it means
adj Of or relating to the earth; (specifically, chiefly science fiction) inhabiting planet Earth as opposed to other planets.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin tellūs / tellurian