Skip to content

terraferma

dry land

noun tehr-rah-FEHR-mah Rare
Travel & Places Geography

Also means

mainland

Usage Note

Terraferma is a compound of terra (land) + ferma (firm/solid) and refers to solid ground as opposed to water, or the mainland as opposed to islands. Sailors traditionally say toccare la terraferma (to set foot on dry land). It is also the historical name for the Venetian territories on the Italian mainland.

Examples

"Dopo la traversata, finalmente toccammo la terraferma."

Natural Translation

After the crossing, we finally touched dry land.

Explore Italian by topic