earth | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

347 entries found.

"to disinter that which has been buried," especially a dead body, early 15c., from Medieval Latin exhumare "to unearth" (13c.), from Latin ex "out of" (see ex-) + humare "bury," from humus "earth" (from PIE root *dhghem- "earth"). An alternative form was exhumate (1540s), taken directly from Medieval Latin. Figurative use by 1819. Related: Exhumed; exhuming.

omerta (n.)

Mafia code of obedience to the leader and silence about the organization and its business, 1909, from Italian omertà, a dialectal form of umilta "humility," in reference to submission of individuals to the group interest, from Latin humilitas "lowness, small stature; insignificance; baseness, littleness of mind," in Church Latin "meekness," from humilis "lowly, humble," literally "on the ground," from humus "earth," from PIE root *dhghem- "earth."

geodesy (n.)

1560s, "the art of land surveying," from Modern Latin geodaesia, from Greek geodaisia "division of the earth;" ultimately from gē "earth" (see Gaia) + stem of daiein "to divide," from PIE *dai-, extended form of root *da- "to divide." In modern use it refers to mathematical calculations derived from measuring large portions of the earth's surface. In this sense, in reference to structures, from 1936.

terra incognita (n.)

"unknown or unexplored region," 1610s, Latin, literally "unknown land," from terra "earth" (from PIE root *ters- "to dry") + fem. of incognito.

landslide (n.)

also land-slide, 1841, "fall or down-slide of a mass of rock, earth, etc. from a slope or mountain," American English, from land (n.) + slide (n.). Earlier was landslip (1670s), which is preferred in Britain. Old English used eorðgebyrst in this sense; literally "earth-burst." Landslide in the political sense "lopsided electoral victory" is attested from 1888.

lithosphere (n.)

"crust of the earth, solid part of the earth's surface," 1881, from or modeled on German Lithosphäre (1870s); see litho- "stone" + sphere.

Skylab (n.)

name of a U.S. space program, first attested 1970, launched 1973, fell to earth 1979. From sky (n.) + lab (n.).

tombolo (n.)

sand-bar joining an island to the mainland, 1899, from Italian tombolo "sand dune," from Latin tumulus "hillock, mound, heap of earth" (see tomb).

lanthanum (n.)

metallic rare earth element, 1841, coined in Modern Latin by Swedish chemist and mineralogist Carl Gustav Mosander (1797-1858), who discovered it in 1839, from Greek lanthanein "to lie hidden, escape notice," from PIE root *ladh- "to be hidden" (see latent). So called because the element was "concealed" in the earth from which he extracted it.

paleontologist (n.)

also palaeontologist, "one versed in the study of the former life of the Earth as preserved in fossils," 1836, from paleontology + -ist.

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