Earthling

See also: earthling

English

WOTD – 22 March 2022

Etymology

From earth +‎ -ling (suffix indicating a resident); earth is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁er- (“earth”). Old English ierþling (“farmer, husbandman, ploughman”, literally “one of the earth”) is formed from the same roots but generally did not outlive Old English; all modern uses are historical: see earthling.

Compare also human, which is derived from Latin humus (“ground, soil”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɜːθlɪŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɝθlɪŋ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Earth‧ling

Noun

Earthling (plural Earthlings)

1. An inhabitant of Earth, as opposed to one of heaven. [from 16th c.]
   • 1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by Andrewe Wise, […], →OCLC, folio 60, verso:

     VVe (of all earthlings) are Gods vtmoſt ſubiects, the laſt (in a manner) that he bought to his obedience: ſhal we then forgette that vvee are any ſubiects of hys, becauſe (as amongſt his Angels) he is not viſibly conuerſant amongſt vs?

2. (chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of Earth, as opposed to one of another planet; specifically, a sentient member of any species native to Earth. [from 20th c.]

   Synonyms: (nonstandard, humorous, science fiction) Earthican, Tellurian, Terran; see also Thesaurus:Earthling

   Antonyms: alien, extraterrestrial; see also Thesaurus:extraterrestrial

3. (archaic) A person who is materialistic or worldly; a worldling. [from 17th c.]

Alternative forms

• earthling

Hypernyms

• Solarian

Hyponyms

• Earthboy
• Earthgirl
• Earthman
• Earthwoman

Coordinate terms

• halfling
• Mercurian · Venusian · Lunarian · Marsling, marsling, Martian · Jovian, Jupiterian · Saturnian · Uranian · Neptunian · Plutonian

Translations

inhabitant of Earth, as opposed to one of heaven

inhabitant of Earth, as opposed to one of another planet

• Arabic: أَرْضِيّ m (ʔarḍiyy)
• Basque: lurtar
• Belarusian: зямля́нін m (zjamljánin)
• Bulgarian: земля́нин m (zemljánin), жи́тел на Земя́та (žítel na Zemjáta)
• Catalan: terrícola (ca) m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 地球人 (zh) (dìqiúrén)

• Czech: Pozemšťan m
• Danish: jordbo (da) c
• Dutch: aardeling (nl) m, aardbewoner (nl) m, aardbewoonster f
• Esperanto: terano
• Estonian: maalased
• Finnish: Maan asukas
• French: terrien (fr) m, terrienne (fr) f
• German: Erdling (de) m, Terraner m, Terranerin f
• Greek: γήινος (el) m (gíinos)
• Hungarian: földlakó (hu)
• Icelandic: jarðarbúi m
• Indonesian: makhluk bumi, penduduk bumi
• Italian: terrestre (it) m
• Japanese: 地球人 (ちきゅうじん, chikyūjin)
• Kazakh: Жер тұрғыны (Jer tūrğyny)
• Korean: 지구인(地球人) (ko) (jigu'in)
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: земјанин m (zemjanin)
• Malay: makhluk bumi, orang bumi, penduduk bumi
• Polish: Ziemianin (pl) m, Ziemianka (pl) f
• Portuguese: terráqueo (pt) m, terrestre (pt) m or f
• Romanian: pământean (ro) m, pământeană f
• Russian: земля́нин (ru) m (zemljánin), жи́тель Земли́ m (žítelʹ Zemlí), жи́тельница Земли́ f (žítelʹnica Zemlí), терра́нец m (terránec) ((science fiction))
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Зѐмљанин m, Зѐмљанка f

  Roman: Zèmljanin (sh) m, Zèmljanka f

• Slovak: Pozemšťan m
• Slovene: Zemljan m
• Spanish: terráqueo (es) m, terrestre (es) m or f, terrícola (es) m or f
• Swedish: jordbo (sv) c
• Thai: ชาวโลก (chaao-lôok)
• Turkish: dünyalı (tr)
• Ukrainian: земля́нин m (zemljányn), ме́шканець Землі́ m (méškanecʹ Zemlí), ме́шканка Землі́ f (méškanka Zemlí)
• Vietnamese: người Trái đất
• Welsh: daearolyn m

person who is materialistic or worldly

Further reading

• Earthling on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Earthling”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 13, column 3.

Anagrams

• haltering, heartling, lathering, real thing