Origin: 1700-1800 French land, ground, from Latin terrenum, from terra; ➔ TERRACE
Thesaurus
THESAURUSearth►ground
a)the surface of the Earth: The ground was covered with snow. A large branch was lying on the ground.b)the soil on and under the surface of the Earth: The ground is too hard to plant trees now. Most of the surrounding area is marshy ground.
►land
the solid part of the Earth’s surface that is not covered by water: After a week on the ship, it was nice to be back on land.
►earth
the surface of the planet that we live on: The huge explosion made the earth shake.
►terrain
a particular type of land: We hiked across the rocky terrain.
►floor
the ground in an ocean, forest, or cave: The forest floor was covered with pine needles.
►bed
the ground at the bottom of a river, lake, ocean, etc.: The sandy bed of the river felt nice on her toes.
►soil/dirt
the substance that plants grow in. Dirt sounds more informal than soil: The soil in this part of the country is excellent for growing crops.
►mud
very wet soil: The fields turned to mud after the rain.
earth science, geography a particular type of land: rocky terrain► see thesaurus at ground1