tellurian

¹ American  

[te-loor-ee-uhn] / tɛˈlʊər i ən /

adjective

1. of or characteristic of the earth or its inhabitants; terrestrial.

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noun

1. an inhabitant of the earth.

tellurian ² American  

[te-loor-ee-uhn] / tɛˈlʊər i ən /

noun

1. tellurion.

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tellurian British  

/ tɛˈlʊərɪən /

adjective

1. of or relating to the earth

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noun

1. (esp in science fiction) an inhabitant of the earth

Etymology

Origin of tellurian

First recorded in 1780–90; from Latin tellūr- (stem of tellūs ) “earth” + -ian

Example Sentences

They are not impossible: they could be translated into actual tellurian beings, which the men and women of the bad novelist never can be.

From The English Novel by Saintsbury, George

He turned his face to her and said earnestly, "Did you ever sleep out on a mountain with the stars close above you?—'the vast tellurian galleons' voyaging through space?"

From Together by Herrick, Robert

Fire and water have thus been the chief tellurian anarchists, and the shaking of continents and the constant shifting of level in sea and land still continue to attest their restless energies.

From An Expository Outline of the "Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation" With a Notice of the Author's "Explanations:" A Sequel to the Vestiges by Anonymous

It was really like a dead forest, or like thick-set masts of shipping in a thronged port; or the vents of tellurian fires, which send up their flames by night and their smoke by day.

From Seven English Cities by Howells, William Dean

Ludwig removed the astronomical eye-piece from the telescope, and inserted the tellurian glass instead; then he turned the object-glass toward the neighboring manor instead of toward the moon.

From The Nameless Castle by Jókai, Mór