TERRA
What does "TERRA" mean?
The Latin word for earth or land, used in English in phrases like terra firma.
Meanings
- Earth or land; chiefly used in borrowed Latin phrases such as 'terra firma' (solid ground) and 'terra incognita' (unknown territory). After the storm at sea, terra firma had never felt so good. formal
- In planetary science, an extensive highland or land-mass region on a planet or moon. Mappers labeled the bright southern highland a terra. technical
Did you know?
- Astronomers still use Latin: the official term for a large highland region on a planet or moon is a 'terra', so Venus has features formally named Aphrodite Terra and Ishtar Terra.
Word origin
Directly from Latin 'terra' (earth, land, ground), from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning dry; the same root underlies 'terrain', 'territory', 'terrestrial', and 'inter' (to put in the earth).
Remember it
TERRA is the root in TERRain, TERRitory, and TERRestrial - all about the ground under your feet. Two R's, like firm earth doubling down.
A little poem
Off the heaving deck I leap and stand:
terra firma - the oldest gift, dry land.
couplet
Wordplay
- The sailor finally reached terra firma and declared the more firma, the less terra-fying.
What it teaches
Everyone praises the horizon, but it's terra firma you kneel to kiss after the storm.
Quick facts
What does TERRA mean?
The Latin word for earth or land, used in English in phrases like terra firma.
Is TERRA a valid word?
Yes — TERRA is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is TERRA?
TERRA has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does TERRA come from?
Directly from Latin 'terra' (earth, land, ground), from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning dry; the same root underlies 'terrain', 'territory', 'terrestrial', and 'inter' (to put in the earth).
What can TERRA teach us?
Everyone praises the horizon, but it's terra firma you kneel to kiss after the storm.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.