earthborn adj.
originating on Earth, as opposed to outer space or another celestial body
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1900
George Griffith
bibliography
There, that is Malapert. It is almost exactly at the south pole of the moon, and there—is the horizon of the hemisphere which no earthborn eyes but ours and Murgatroyd’s have ever seen.
A Visit to the Moon in Pearson’s Magazine Jan. 29/2
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1932
Pardon me, I had forgotten. A. D. was the abbreviation of two words Anno Domini. They referred to the supposed birth of one of the gods in one of the primitive religions, just which one I am not sure since several claimed the Earth-born god as their own.
Last Woman in Wonder Stories Apr. 1240/2
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1940
page image
Malcolm Jameson
‘Never mind those,’ said their guide, rather contemptuously, ‘being Earthborn you are in a favored class.’
Quicksands of Youthwardness in Astonishing Stories Oct. 22/1
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1949
Isaac Asimov
The Outer Worlders exist as they do, only because pieces of Earth have been transplanted. Soil has been brought out there; plants; animals; men. They keep themselves surrounded by an artificial Earth-born geology which has within it, for instance, those traces of cobalt, zinc, and copper which human chemistry must have. They surround themselves by Earth-born bacteria and algae which have the ability to make those inorganic traces available in just the right way and in just the right quantity.
Mother Earth in Astounding Science Fiction May 91/1
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1953
Gordon R. Dickson
Letting five hundred Earth-born humans into Modor to settle on the barren land was a fool’s trick, and a flat outrage of a sort of unwritten agreement that had existed for over two hundred years between Modorians and humans, ever since the first ship had landed, in fact.
Bleak and Barren Land in Space Stories Feb. 89/1
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1960
Alan E. Nourse
Nothing draws men like the search for treasure, and the asteroids may turn out to be a treasure trove to surpass the wildest dreams of an Earth-born prospector.
Nine Planets 192
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1961
Edmond Hamilton
We are Earth-born.
City at World's End xii. 90
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1979
Dwelling there is no logistical problem: it has facilities for eating, sleeping, excreting, and cleaning, because the designers expected its attached observatory to be used heavily. Cynical memory banks tell us that she is the first to enter on a regular basis since the Earth-born passengers died.
Mayflies 103
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1991
Orson Scott Card
It’s getting into the Earthborn crops that humans need in order to survive on Lusitania.
Xenocide ii. 22
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1993
Kim Stanley Robinson
So now, as the grinning Earthborn hydrologists showed her as she stepped into an observation gallery cut into the side of the lava tube…
Green Mars (new ed.) 439
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2015
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Eoin Colfer
bibliography
On Garrick’s last immersion, he had gone deeper than any earthborn being ever had, apart from a prehistoric earthworm who had entered through a rift brought on by a major volcanic eruption, which happened to coincide with extreme levels of solar radiation.
Forever Man iii. 55
Research requirements
antedating 1900
Earliest cite
George Griffith, 'A Honeymoon in Space'
Research History
Ralf Brown submitted cites from the 1900 serialization of George Griffith's "A Honeymoon in Space"Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1951 reprint of Isaac Asimov's "Mother Earth", which Mike Christie verified in the 1949 first publication.
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1974 reprint of Gordon Dickson's "The Bleak and Barren Land", which Mike Christie verified in the 1953 first publication.
Karen Holland submitted a 1979 cite for "earth-born" from Kevin O'Donnell Jr's "Mayflies",
Fred Galvin submitted a cite for "Earth-born" from a 1961 reprint of Edmond Hamilton's 1950 story "The City at World's End"
Fred Galvin submitted a 1932 cite from "The Last Woman", by Thomas D. Gardner.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1960 cite from Alan E. Nourse's "Nine Planets".
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2015 cite from Eoin Colfer.
OED's current definition is "Born on the earth; of earthly or mortal race, as opposed to angelic or divine."
Last modified 2022-06-13 14:31:23
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.