Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “extraterrestrial” come from?

Extraterrestrial comes from English terrestrial, derived from Latin extra and Latin terra meaning "earth," both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ters- meaning "dry."

extraterrestrial (English): Originating from outside of the Earth's...

Definitions

  1. Originating from outside of the Earth's...

Ancestry of “extraterrestrial”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishextra-Outside of, beyond
2Latinextrā—
3LatinexterOn the outside, outward, external, outer; Of...
4Proto-Italic*eksteros—

Words derived from “extraterrestrial”

  • extraterrestrially
  • nonextraterrestrial
  • extraterrestrialness
  • extraterrestrialization
Every word from Proto-Italic *eksteros →