terra

earth

noun TEHR-rah Common

Origin: Latin terra (earth, land, soil)

Also means

land

Usage Note

Terra is polysemous: it means the ground underfoot (cadere a terra — 'to fall to the ground'), soil (lavorare la terra — 'to till the soil'), dry land (terra ferma), and the planet Earth (la Terra, always capitalised when the planet). The phrase in terra or a terra means 'on the floor/ground'. Double 'r' is held.

Examples

"Il contadino lavora la terra ogni mattina."

Natural Translation

The farmer works the land every morning.

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