Terra n.

the planet Earth

[< Latin terra ‘earth’]

SF Encyclopedia


  • 1871 R. P. Smith Science and Revelation 155

    Now, let us suppose ourselves philosophers come, we will say, form the planet Jupiter, on a mission intrusted to us by the Jovians, to examine and report upon the nature of the creatures which people the four inferior planets, Terra, Venus, Mercury, and Mars.

  • 1900 G. Griffith Visit to Moon in Pearson's Magazine Mar. 248 George Griffith

    Well, after all, if you find the United States, or even the planet Terra, too small for you, we’ve always got the fields of Space open to us. We might take a trip across the Zodiac or down the Milky Way.

  • 1915 H. S. Keeler John Jones’s Dollar in Black Cat Aug. 45/1 page image Harry Stephen Keeler bibliography

    On the 201st day of the year 3214 A.D., the professor of history at the University of Terra seated himself in front of the Visaphone and prepared to deliver the daily lecture to his class, the members of which resided in different portions of the earth.

  • 1929 O. A. Kline Planet of Peril 116

    While she spoke they were mounting high in the air. She turned and looked him squarely in the eyes. ‘Grandon of Terra…have you deceived me? Are you of Olba and not of Mignor?’

  • 1929 O. A. Kline Planet of Peril 44

    The Earth-man first thought of giving the name of Rogi Thaddor, and was on the point of doing so, but checked himself in time when he remembered that these men apparently did not know him, and replied: ‘I am Grandon of Terra, and was taking my evening exercise on the fern-rope when you interrupted me.’

  • 1953 A. Norton Star Rangers xvi. 207 Andre Norton bibliography

    Terra calling.

  • 1953 C. Oliver Ant & Eye in W. F. Nolan Edge of Forever (1971) 189 Chad Oliver

    And after you tell us dummies what to do to save Beloved Terra, come on back and we’ll have a beer.

  • 1960 P. Anderson High Crusade (1982) v. 31 Poul Anderson bibliography

    Belike, I thought, when Scripture mentioned the four corners of the world, it did not mean our planet Terra at all, but referred to a cubical universe.

  • 1974 U. K. Le Guin Dispossessed (1975) i. 10, Ursula K. Le Guin

    I was given the honor of attending you because of my experience with other visitors from offworld, the ambassadors from Terra and from Hain.

  • 1990 ‘J. Tiptree, Jr.’ Color of Neanderthal Eyes 33 James Tiptree, Jr.

    Perhaps it is still spawning out new races of Homo Wettersis, as a part of Old Terra once did.

  • 1990 G. Bear Queen of Angels (1991) ii.xxxvi. 176 Greg Bear

    He had hoped to be able to train Islamic researchers to handle this particular cultural and religious terra, but had not been allowed enough time.

  • 1991 D. Stabenow Second Star ii. 36 Dana Stabenow

    They had bug-eyed monsters on the cover of Scientific American and little green men chasing each other across the news on every trivee screen on Terra.

  • 1993 K. S. Robinson Green Mars (new ed.) 210 Kim Stanley Robinson

    Terran stock markets were ballooning hysterically to mark the action, with no end in sight, despite the fact that Mars could only provide Terra with certain metals in certain quantities.

  • 2020 E. Bear Machine xxi. 347 Elizabeth Bear bibliography

    Christ was a religious prophet from an even earlier era, very popular on Terra for several thousand years.


Research requirements

antedating 1873

Earliest cite

R. Payne Smith, 'Science and Revelation'

Research History
Robert Andrews submitted a 1929 cite from Otis Adelbert Kline's "The Planet of Peril".
Fred Galvin submitted a cite that is from no later than 1891 from the fourth edition of Richard Proctor's "Other Worlds Than Ours", and subsequently confirmed the cite in the 1874 edition.
We would like to check the cite in the 1870 first edition.
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1958 reprint of Harry Stephen Keeler's 1915 "John Jones' Dollar"; Jesse Sheidlower verified it in the 1915 original in "Black Cat Magazine".
Roberto Labanti submitted a cite from the published text of a lecture "Science and Revelation" by R. Payne Smith. (this was an American reprint of the 1871 english edition: we would be interested in verifying cites from the original publication, "Science and Scepticism: A Course of lectures delivered at the request of the Christian Evidence Society...", ed. The Christian Evidence Society, Hodder & Stoughton, 1871)
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2020 cite from Elizabeth Bear.

Earliest cite in the OED: 1947. We would like cites between 1891 and 1927, as well as any antedatings.

Last modified 2022-12-12 13:55:04
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.