terr-, terra-, -ter +

A historic type of lamp made from an unglazed, lightweight clay material that is typically red in color.

Believed to have been used first in ancient Greece in about 600 B.C.

Cultivation in the soil of the earth; agriculture.

1. Solid ground, dry land; in contrast to water or air.
2. About 1605, "part of the Italian mainland ruled by Venice", from Modern Latin terra firma; literally, "firm land", from Latin terra "earth, land".

1. To transform (a landscape) on another planet into one having the characteristics of landscapes on Earth.
2. To alter the environment of a celestial body in order to make it capable of supporting terrestrial life forms.
3. To change another planet's surface and atmosphere so that life as it exists on Earth is feasible.

The inventor of the term terraforming was Jack Williamson, in a series of stories he wrote in the early 1940s which were collected under the title of Seetee Ship (a phonetic transcription of CT a reference to contraterrence, said to be a word for "antimatter").

Although terraforming was quickly established as a standard term within the science-fiction linguistic groups, only in recent decades has it begun to appear in mainstream writing. Several books have used terraforming as part of their plots, and many more have employed it as a sub-plot or part of the background in their stories.

The verb to terraform, the agent noun terraformer and the adjective terraformed are also found, a clear sign of a term in active use.

The concept has been discussed seriously among futurologists and long-range planners since the seventies, although Carl Sagan wrote a paper about the subject as far back as 1961.

There have been substantial studies recently on how Mars could be terraformed, Mars being recognised as the most suitable Solar System planet for human colonisation now that Venus is known to be so inhospitable. Such researchers tend to refer to their field as planetary engineering or sometimes geoengineering, which lack the science fiction associations or the implication that the planet is to be changed to resemble Earth.

Someone who advocates the terraformation of another planet; such as, Mars.

1. The process of modifying a planet, moon or other body to a more earth-like habitable atmosphere, temperature, and ecology.
2. Used very broadly as a synonym for planetary engineering in general. Since space exploration is in its infancy, a good deal of terraforming remains very speculative and serves to stimulate the imaginations of science-fiction writers.

Someone who believes in the practice of terraforming.

In geography, a tract of land having or considered in terms of certain natural features and characteristics; especially when crossing it or using it for military purposes.

1. An unknown land; an unexplored region.
2. A new or unexplored field of knowledge.

An unexplored region. This phrase is often used in referring to matters about which one is uninformed, e.g. "I don't think I can do this because it is terra incognita to me."

A kind of earthy fertilizer.

This trade name is an antibiotic that owes its name to the fact that it was isolated from a soil mold.

1. A series of related rock formations.
2. An area having a proponderance of a particular rock or rock groups.
3. A section of the Earth's crust that is defined by clear fault boundaries, with stratigraphic and structural properties that distinguish it from adjacent rocks.

Pertaining to, or living on, the land or ground surface; terrestrial.

In Australia, the idea and legal concept that when the first Europeans arrived in Australia, the land was owned by no one and therefore open to settlement. It has been judged not to be legally valid.

Consisting of land and water; as, the earth is a terraqueous globe.

This reference is given as a description of the earth's surface, of which more than three fifths consist of water, and the remainder of earth or solid materials.