earthyadj.
/ˈəːθi/, U.S. /ˈərθi/ I. Senses relating to earth as a substance or element.
1.
a. Of a material substance: that is of the nature of earth or soil; having the characteristic properties of earth; resembling earth in a particular way.
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. xxxvi. 844 Þe brymstone is erþy and nought pure.
1526 Grete Herball ccxxx. sig. Nvv/1 The stone of armeny is more erthy lyght and more whytysshe.
1555 R. Eden tr. V. Biringucci Pyrotechnia in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 341 An earthye substaunce infusible and not able to bee molten.
c1600 J. Norden Speculum Brit.: Cornwall (1728) 3 The Rockes..had they bene of a more earthy or tender substance coulde not have so long prevented Cornwalls utter obsorpation.
1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities 391 The Earthy powder, I obtain'd from already distill'd Rain water.
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 47 All Water, (especially that of Rain), being..stored with this [terrestrial Matter], it being light in comparison of the common Mineral earthy Matter, and there fore easily assumed into Water.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Strata..the Layers or Beds of different kind of Earthy Matter, that lie one over another without any regular Order.
1793 M. Baillie Morbid Anat. xiii. 188 The kidneys have been said to be converted into an earthy substance.
1830 J. Baxter Libr. Agric. & Hort. Knowl. 462 An excess of vegetable matter is..to be remedied by the application of earthy materials.
1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 719/1 Being a mountain streamlet, it bears along..rootlets, scales of mica, cloudings of earthy substance, etc.
1907 B. P. Colton Physiol. ix. 150 It always has more or less earthy matter in solution, and is therefore more or less ‘hard’.
2006 K. Thompson 50 Robots 21 A golem..may be made of stone or some other earthy material that's animated by a sorcerer.
b. Of colour, taste, smell, etc.: resembling or suggestive of earth or soil.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > [adjective]
earthlya1398
earthya1398
terrene1601
soily1747
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vii. ii. 343 Þe face of erþy colour and hiew.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde ii. ix. f. 82 The skyn is..of earthy coloure.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §387 All sweet Smells have joyned with them some Earthy or Crude Odors.
1664 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Wks. lx. 470 It was of an harsh and earthy taste, as if it would stop up my winde-pipe; so as I swallowed it with a great slowness of labour.
1714 R. Hunter Androboros iii. ii. 23 What a Plaguy Earthy Taste this same small Beer has got, all of a suddain.
1717 W. Taverner Artful Husband (new ed.) v. ii. 60 You are so near your Grave, you smell Earthy.
1791 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina ii. x. 271 They [sc. chicken snakes] are of a cinereous, earthy colour.
1821 Edinb. Philos. Jrnl. 4 304 Possessing a rough earthy feel.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxxv. 133 The crispness of the raw onion, with the earthy taste.
1870 C. Dickens Edwin Drood iii. 12 A..city, deriving an earthy flavor throughout, from its cathedral crypt.
1924 C. Mackenzie Heavenly Ladder x. 138 The infinitely various earthy odours and the cool grassiness of the place allayed his feverish regrets.
1981 U. Hegi Intrusions i. 2 A blanket, one of those woven, striped Indian affairs in rich earthy colors: terra-cotta, Sahara beige, harvest yellow.
2006 Chile Pepper Feb. 51 These peppers have a complex and earthy taste that hints at cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
c. Consisting of earth, or of material resembling earth. Also used figuratively of the human body, esp. a dead body (cf. earth n.1 14a).In quot. a1533 perhaps with punning allusion to sense 8.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > [adjective]
lichamlyc888
fleshlyc1175
outward?c1225
bodilyc1380
corporalc1400
personal?a1439
carnal1488
earthya1533
carrionc1540
corporatec1580
nervous1616
fleshy1630
somandric1716
physical1737
somatic1775
corporeal1795
psychosomatica1834
physico-mental1844
somal1900
a1533 J. Frith Against Rastel (?1535–6) sig. Ciiiv We have this..treasure in frayle, brytell, and erthye vessels.
1577 A. Golding tr. T. de Bèze Trag. Abrahams Sacrifice 8 God made the starrie skies and earthy clodds: I made much more: for I did make ye godds.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David (1823) xcvi Starry roofe, and earthy floore.
1608 W. Shakespeare Richard II iv. i. 209 And soone lie Richard in an earthy pit.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iii. ii. 147 His dead and earthy Image. View more context for this quotation
a1652 J. Smith Select Disc. (1660) viii. i. 352 The Soul must be wholly dissolved from this Earthy body in which it is so deeply immerst.
1718 L. Echard Hist. Eng. (new ed.) II. ii. i. 239 His Authority and Station may be compar'd to the Earthy Mounds or Sea-Banks, which being swept away by a Storm, leave all the In-Land to be drown'd.
1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia vi. 54 In limestone country are many caves, the earthy floors of which are impregnated with nitre.
1851 P. H. Gosse Naturalist's Sojourn Jamaica 283 A fragment of the earthy nest of the Duck-ants (Termites).
1967 B. J. Banfill Pioneer Nurse x. 122 The earthy carpet, cushioned with pink and white flowers and yellow adder tongues.
1995 Garden (Royal Hort. Soc.) Nov. 685/2 In the garden it favours well-drained earthy screes or raised beds.
d. Of a mineral: having no lustre, friable, and rough to the touch; (also, of a mineral or ore) resembling soil; containing admixed soil.
ΚΠ
1693 tr. S. Blankaart Physical Dict. (ed. 2) 47/2 Cadmia, an earthy Mineral, of a blackish colour.
1759 W. Lewis tr. C. Neumann Chem. Wks. 149/1 Earthy Cobalt; blended with various earths into soft friable compounds.
1805 R. Jameson Treat. External Characters Minerals 63 Complete opacity and want of lustre..appears to be peculiar to earthy minerals.
1843 J. E. Portlock Rep. Geol. Londonderry 225 Earthy Hæmatite is found at Bardahessigh.
1877 A. H. Green Geol. for Students: Physical Geol. (ed. 2) ii. §5. 46 Crystalline rocks occasionally put on a loose friable form and are then said to be earthy.
1923 H. H. Read Rutley's Elements Mineral. (ed. 21) ii. 152 Priceite is a soft, white, earthy mineral, and pandermite is a somewhat harder mineral.
1994 R. E. Bevins Mineral. Wales 44/2 A single cavity..was observed, filled with a white earthy mineral.
e. Mineralogy. Of a fracture: characterized by a rough, uneven surface. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1784 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. 110 This species..has a..more earthy appearance in its fracture.]
1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 436 Basalt..is a heavy perfectly compact body, whose fracture discovers a fine splintery or earthy fracture, destitute of all lustre.
?1837 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 1 No. 5. 157 Fracture earthy,..soiling the fingers.
1877 H. A. Nicholson Anc. Life-hist. Earth (1878) ii. 21 Chalk is a calcareous rock of a generally soft and pulverulent texture, and with an earthy fracture.
1917 W. S. Bayley Descriptive Mineral. xii. 244 It has an uneven, conchoidal or earthy fracture.
1935 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 152 51 The extremely friable nature and the earthy fracture of explosive deposits with a high SbCl3 content.
f. Covered in or full of earth or soil.In quot. 1836 perhaps: dirty, covered in dirt.
ΚΠ
1805 I. D'Israeli Flim-flams! II. xxvii. 91 But Lady Betty Bloom assures me she has discovered a new earth, very pretty and white..! What a charming woman! it is a pity she never washes her earthy hands!
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 193 A damp earthy child.
1887 G. M. Fenn One Maid's Mischief I. vi. 53 He slowly placed basket and trowel upon the grass.., and forgetful of the state of his hands, helped the ladies to alight, leaving the imprint of his earthy fingers upon Helen's delicate gloves.
1893 A. M. F. Randolph Trial Sir John Falstaff ix. 196 Go to; with the gravel in thy broken shoes, and between thy dirty and earthy toes.
1915 D. H. Lawrence Rainbow vi. 145 Kneeling carefully on the bed, so that his earthy boots should not touch it, he took her in his arms to comfort her.
1991 J. Trollope Rector's Wife i. 6 She pressed the moss and watched a trickle of earthy water ooze out of it.
2. Having the properties of earth as one of the four elements (element n. 1a), as distinguished from those of fire, air, or water; having earth as the predominant element; heavy, gross.Now chiefly a term of astrology and alternative medicine.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > alchemy > alchemical elements > [adjective] > qualities of
dryc888
earthya1398
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. i. 888 Of colde humour, erþy, and malencolik, comeþ blaknesse in fruyte.
J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) 287 Jouys, fyry; Juno, aery; Neptunus, wattry; Pluto, erthy.
1541 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) 1 Rather erthy, watry, airy, and fyry, than absolutely erth, water, ayre, & fyre.
1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum 276 And they that bee watrie and earthie, bee colde and female, and nightish signes.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §390 When they [sc. flowers] are Crushed, the Grosser and more Earthy Spirit cometh out with the Finer and troubleth it.
1651 J. F. tr. H. C. Agrippa Three Bks. Occult Philos. i. vii. 19 Amongst Metals, Lead, and Silver are earthy; Quicksilver is waterish: Copper, and Tin are airy: and Gold, and Iron are fiery.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) 76 The Clouds are attracted out of moist and watry, and also earthy Vapours.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Rose-Copper, a copper melted several times and separated from its gross and earthy Parts.
1788 J. H. de Magellan et al. Cronstedt's Ess. Syst. Mineral. (new ed.) I. 183 It reflects a whitish light,..like the shining face of the moon when it is high enough not to become reddish by the interference of the earthy vapours.
1853 Q. Rev. 92 87 A book of merit as an historical record, but largely imaginative in all that relates to these metallic and earthy vapours..which he presumed to exist in the atmosphere around us.
1897 A. Leo Pract. Astrol. iv. 22 We must again dissect the twelve signs into four distinct groups, as follows:—Fiery, Airy, Watery and Earthy.
1946 W. P. Witcutt Blake, Psychol. Stud. viii. 112 The fiery Genii belong to feeling, the earthy gnomes to intuition, the watery nymphs to sensation, and the airy fairies to thought.
2001 Fodor's Healthy Escapes (rev. ed.) 46 A staff of doctors examines you to determine which of three doshas, or mind-body types, you belong to: kapha (solid, stable, earthy), vatta (quick, changeable, airy), or pitta (intense, sharp, fiery).
3. Of or relating to the ground or what is below the ground; subterranean. Also: dwelling on or inside the earth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > ground > [adjective]
earthya1398
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. i. 1092 ‘A best’, wheþur it be ayry as fowil, or wattry as fissh..oþer erþy as bestes þat goþ on grounde and in feldes.
1604 T. Winter tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Third Dayes Creation 24 Now th' earthy surface is not onely drest With things of price; for in her fruitfull brest Such treasures heaped are, as by no meane Can lucre-hunting men make riddance cleane.
1667 J. Dryden Indian Emperour ii. i. 15 Those Earthy Spirits black and envious are.
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature II. 106 Beneath the earthy surface of the globe, we shall be able to trace its levelling and its dreadful energy.
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) v. 41 Little Paul might have asked with Hamlet ‘into my grave?’ so chill and earthy was the place.
1892 ‘M. Field’ Stephania i. 12 There was no colour to be seen Throughout the earthy dwelling-place.
1938 Amer. Home June 80/2 While earthy birds like robins which sing from perches, sound cheery roundelays enough, only American oven-birds and Old World skylarks singing up in the sky can voice unending joy in being free.
1993 Times (Nexis) 14 Aug. The Atrium is not a light or airy place; rather, it is earthy and cave-like with a lot of metalwork.
4. Grossly material; coarse, unrefined. Also: down-to-earth, unpretentious. In later use frequently of humour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > [adjective] > material or not spiritual > merely material
worldlyOE
earthlyOE
fleshlyc1175
materialc1390
carnal1483
charnel1483
earthen1538
world-like1577
earthy1594
materious1611
cloddy1634
wormy1640
unangelicala1711
descendental1847
unangelic1890
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 65 The sense of touching..is most earthy of all the rest.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 274 Thou wast a Spirit too delicate To act her earthy, and abhord commands. View more context for this quotation
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. ii. sig. Aa6 Men whom..he was wont to undervalue, as being far more Earthy than himself.
1726 R. Savage Misc. Poems & Transl. 208 Like gross-fed Spirits sick, in purer Air, Their earthy Souls by their dull Taste disclose!
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xiv. 232 They [sc. the English] delight in strong earthy expression..coarsely true to the human body.
1868 J. T. Nettleship Ess. Browning's Poetry ii. 74 The dumb striving of a humanity prisoned in too earthy a chamber.
1936 C. Beaton Diary in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) v. 45 A more earthy illustration is provided by the indecent postcards strewn about.
1957 Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz. 20 Aug. 6/3 Shakespeare..was an idiomatic writer for his day—racy and bawdy and full of common, earthy, every-day references.
2003 Daily Tel. 7 Aug. 16/1 Brand's stand-up show this year is a typically earthy, gyno-centric collection of jokes, often very funny.
5. Chemistry. Belonging to the class of compounds called earths (earth n.1 16), now characterized as metallic oxides; (of a salt) formed from an earth. †Also as n. (obsolete rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > metals > [adjective] > earths
earthy1718
terrigenous1836
1718 J. Quincy Pharmacopœia Officinalis 10 The Particles of Sal Alcali do consist of earthy and acid united together.
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 135 Bodies have been divided into six classes, saline, inflammable, metallic, earthy, watery, and aerial.
1803 Ann. Rev. 1 377/1 All those alkaline and earthy salts..are shown..to be hyperoxygenated muriates.
1863 Sci. Amer. 17 Oct. 247/1 A fine yellow cake or product is obtained by employing picric acid in combination with an earthy compound.
1877 Spirit of Times 24 Nov. 446/2 There seems to be a deficiency of the earthy salts in the bones.
1949 H. W. C. Vines Green's Man. Pathol. (ed. 17) xxx. 802 Laminæ of bile-pigments and earthy salts mixed with cholesterin may be deposited on the surface.
1951 Jrnl. Mammalogy 32 148 The intestinal calculi of herbivores are composed of various earthy salts.
6. Having an electrical potential equal to or close to that of the ground.
ΚΠ
1876 W. H. Preece & J. Sivewright Telegraphy 257 If an underground wire becomes earthy, owing to the insulating covering being partly removed, and the conductor being thus laid bare, [etc.].
1949 Electronic Engin. 21 359 The feedback may be very conveniently taken from the earthy end of the cathode load resistor.
2002 G. Stokes Pract. Guide Wiring Regulations (ed. 3) v. 54 A residual current device would provide a measure of protection to a person coming into touch with that live part and earthy parts.
II. Senses relating to the earth as a world or planet.
7. Relating to the earth in its geographical or astronomical aspect; terrestrial. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > earth > [adjective]
earthya1398
subcelestial1561
terrestrial1597
sublunary1609
beneatha1616
terrene1635
subsidereal1636
under-celestial1640
subsolar1648
subsolary1661
planetary1831
earthside1951
Terran1953
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xiii. v. 655 Þe ryuer Gyon hatte Nilus..and is ycleped þe [o]ponyng of þe erþe oþer erthy.
1640 Bp. J. Wilkins Disc. New Planet (1684) ii. 115 The gravity and magnitude of this Earthy Globe, do make it altogether unfit for so swift a Motion.
1672 J. Gadbury Ephemerides Celestial Motions sig. d2 Ephemerides are not only of use to such persons, as inhabite the same Latitude unto which it is referred; but unto such as are abiding in any part of this Earthy Globe.
1912 G. K. Chesterton Victorian Age Eng. Lit. iv. 239 Wells treated the moon as a globe, like our own; bringing forth monsters as moonish as we are earthy.
8. Of or relating to the earth as opposed to heaven; living or existing on earth; concerned with material rather than spiritual matters, worldly. of the earth, earthy: an allusion to 1 Corinthians 15:47 in the King James Bible (1611).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > [adjective]
earthlyOE
netherOE
lowc1225
terrene13..
terrestre1340
temporalc1380
earthyc1429
terrestrialc1460
inferial?a1475
mundanec1475
mundial1499
earthish?1533
terrenala1555
terreal1598
terrestrene1599
sublunary1609
sublunar1610
mundal1614
temporarya1616
earth-born1626
terranean1653
circumterraneous1678
subcelestial1706
terraneousa1711
terrean1714
terrigenal1744
subastral1752
geotic1755
tellurian1786
worldly1812
telluric1813
transglobal1953
c1429 Mirour Mans Saluacioune (1986) l. 4269 This werlde passing glorie..ȝour grete pride of erthi wricchid praysyng?
1526 Bible (Tyndale) 2 Cor. v. 1 Oure erthy mancion wherin we now dwell.
1576 A. Gilby Brief Treat. Obiections Aduersaries in J. Stockwood tr. T. de Bèze Treasure of Trueth sig. Siiiiv Wee were fyrst created in the earthy Adam, & now are a new restored by the heauenly Adam, Christ Iesu.
1609 Chapman End of Learn. in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign James I (1848) 253 Let a scholar all earthy volumes carrie, He will be but a walking dicionarie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. i. 73 What earthie name to Interrogatories Can task [printed tast] the free breath of a sacred King? View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 583 If Spirit of other sort..have oreleapt these earthie bounds. View more context for this quotation
1752 A. Fleury Short Ess. Resurrection vii. 259 How shall we who are earthy become heavenly?
1773 J. Ross Fratricide (MS) v. 800 Thou shalt quit Thy earthy prison, and evolving Heaven Shall snatch thee.
1829 H. Neele Lit. Remains 45 The latter [sc. Shakespeare] is of the earth, earthy.
1869 Sat. Rev. 13 Feb. 219 The..muse Urania is almost his only patroness; from her eight earthier sisters he gets hardly any assistance.
1914 W. L. Wilmshurst Contemplations iii. 77 Making..such a marriage between the heavenly and the earthy parts of your nature as none may put asunder.
1986 M. M. an Tsaoi in M. Hartnett tr. N. Ní Dhomhnaill Sel. Poems (2004) Introd. 10 Frequently her verse takes on the accents of that most ancient of demi-urges, the Mother-goddess, older than morality, unearthly, yet of the earth earthy.
2007 M. Awkward Soul Covers 87 Blacks..were forced to confront a prevailing tension between earthy and heavenly concerns.
Compounds
C1.
earthy-coloured adj.
ΚΠ
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 969 Broad leaues and rough,..and on the backside are sprinckled as it were with a verie fine earthie coloured dust or spots.
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. 200 Larks, whose characteristic notes are..earthy coloured feathers.
1779 G. Richardson Iconology 66 The figure of a woman, dressed in earthy coloured drapery.
1897 Glasgow Med. Jrnl. Jan. 14 The skin is apt to get dry, wrinkled, parched, and earthy coloured.
1967 Los Angeles Times 10 Dec. (Home section) 12/2 They come in nice earthy-colored glazes.
2004 J. Mercer & M. Shingler Melodrama ii. 66 He is first seen outside tending Cary's trees, dressed in warm, earthy-coloured clothes.
earthy-faced adj. rare
ΚΠ
1923 W. Deeping Secret Sanctuary vi. 62 A lean, peevish, earthy-faced man in a hard felt hat.
earthy-minded adj.
ΚΠ
1608 T. Dekker Lanthorne & Candle-light sig. K3v Then came forth certaine infamous earthy-minded Creatures in the shapes of Snailes.
1756 E. Perronet Mitre i. cxlv. 34 Whose muddy'd steps their offspring trace; A stupid, earthy-minded race, Of Citizens or swine!
1870 Janesville (Wisconsin) Gaz. 13 July Positivists are found in every grade from a John Stuart Mill to the most earthy minded sophomore in all the land.
2004 Newcastle (Austral.) Herald (Nexis) 27 Mar. 18 The Hawkesbury Valley is home to many generous, earthy-minded people.
earthy-smelling adj.
ΚΠ
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xx. 198 The clerks' office of Messrs. Dodson and Fogg was a dark, mouldy, earthy-smelling room.
1922 D. H. Lawrence England my England 240 Then he removed her saturated, earthy-smelling clothing.
2006 New Yorker 28 Aug. 66/2 Wally had on..a faded, earthy-smelling, purple cardy over a green-and-ginger rugger shirt.
C2.
earthy-looking adj. (a) resembling earth in form or colour; (b) (of a person) rustic; rugged.
ΚΠ
1790 R. Kerr tr. C.-L. Berthollet Ess. New Method Bleaching i. 4 Manganese..is a black, heavy, earthy looking, calciform ore, of a semimetal which bears the same name.
1852 Househ. Words 6 Mar. 568/1 A very muscular and earthy-looking Cornish man.
1938 Art Bull. 20 328/1 His sturdy and earthy looking saints and prophets belong to quite another tribe than their long, emaciated, and dour French companions.
2007 National Post (Canada) (Nexis) 29 Sept. 20 Browns infused with red, green or yellow are lighter and more earthy-looking than the dark browns of previous years.
Derivatives
ˈearthily adv.
ΚΠ
1660 H. More Explan. Grand Myst. Godliness ix. xii. 484 That heavy load, the body of sin, the old man that stinks earthily and unsavourly.
1838 Sporting Mag. Apr. 436 He cheered on his hounds, who slowly paced the edge of the covert,..till we had nearly rounded it, their noses being most ‘earthily inclined’, when one wagged his stern.
1944 Eng. Jrnl. 33 375/1 He intended his characters to be believable, honest, and earthily human.
2008 Independent (Nexis) 1 July (Extra section) 20 He is at once earthily sexual and avant-garde.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.a1398