earthling (erthling)

[Not found in ME. (cf. AS. corthling, yrthling, a farmer, a tiller of the earth) (=G. erdling ); Humorous earthlings will control the stars. B. Jonson , Masque of Hymen. To earthlings, the footstool of God, that stage which he raised for a small time, seemeth magnificent. Drummond. 2. One strongly attached to worldly things; a worldling. earthly (erth'li), a. [ Eorthliche honeste thynges was offred thus at ones, Thorgh thre kynde kynges kneolyng to Iesu. Piers Plowman (C), xxii. 94. Whan the bretheren of Gawein com thider ther be-gan the doell and sorowe so grete that noon erthly man myght devise noon gretter. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 300. 2 Cor. v. 1. Our earthly house of this tabernacle. 2. Belonging to the earth or world; worldly; carnal, as opposed to spiritual or heavenly; vile. IMG:content-0160.png:[blocks in formation] earth-fly (èrth'fli), n . Same as earth - flea . earth-foam (érth'föm), n. Same as aphrite . earth-gall (érth'gal), n. [ erthe - galle , ly . AS. eorth - gealla , eorthe , earth, + gealla , gall.] 1. A plant of the gentian family, especially the le er centaury, Erythræa Centaurium : so called from its bitterne .-2. In the United States, the green hellebore, Veratrum viride . earth-hog (érth'hog), n. The aardvark. Also called earth - pig . See Orycteropus . earth-holet, n. [ME. eorthehole .] A cave. earth-house (erth'hous), n. [Sc. eird, eard- , yird - house (see eard , 2); corthhus , eorth - hūs (= Icel. jardh - hūs = Dan. jord- hus = G. erdhaus ), a cave, den, corthe , earth, + hus , house.) The name generally given earth-madt (érth'mad), n. [ The earth - mads and all the sorts of worms without eyes. are Holland. earth, + hnutu, nut.] 1. The tuberous root of Bunium flexuosum and B. Bulbocastanum, common umbelliferous plants of Europe. See Bu nium.-2. The groundnut, Arachis hypодӕа. 3. The tuber of Cyperus rotund us and some other species of the same genus. tures known as "Picts' houses" or "Picts' dwellings." The earth-house in its simplest form con- sists of a single irregular-shaped chamber, formed of un- hewn stones, the side walls gradually converging toward the top until they can be roofed by stones 4 or 5 feet in width, the whole covered in by a mound of earth rising slightly above the level of the surrounding country. The more advanced form has two or three chambers. Earth-earth-oil (erth'oil), n . houses are frequent in the northeast of Scotland, occa- sionally thirty or forty being found in the same locality, earth-pea (erth'pē), n. Same as petroleum. See pea. earthen ve els, cups and implements of bone, stone celts, bronze swords, etc., are occasionally unearthed in or near them. Similar structures are found in Ireland. See beehive house, under beehive . earth-inductor (erth'in-duk"tor), n. In elect., Young , Night Thoughts, ix. 220. a coil of wire arranged so as to be capable of ed with gla , for protecting plants from frost. earth-plate (èrth'plat), n. In elect., a metallic plate buried in the ground, forming the earth connection of a telegraph-wire, lightning-conductor, or other electrical appliances. IMG:content-0161.png:[blocks in formation] Nomenclator (1585). earth-pulsation (érth'pul-sā"shon), n. A slow wave-like movement of the surface of the earth. Such movements, in general, escape attention on account of their long period. of the ground in which it stands shifting relatively to the horizon. Encyc. Brit., XXI. 626. ease Nor is my flame So earthy as to need the dull material force Of eyes, or lips, or cheeks. Sir J. Denham . 5. In mineral., without luster, or dull, and roughish to the touch.- Earthy cobalt. See asbolan. Earthy fracture, a fracture which exposes a rough, dull surface, with minute elevations and depre ions, charac teristic of some minerals. - Earthy manganese. See earth-tongue (èrth'tung), n. The popular name given to club-shaped fungi of the genus Geo- glo um, found in lawns and gra y pastures. earth-treatment (erth'tretment), n. A meth-ear-trumpet (er'trum"pet), n. An apparatus od of treating wounds with clay (or clayey earth) dried and finely powdered. It is applied to wound as a deodorizing agent, tending at same time to prevent or arrest putrefaction. Thomas, Med. Dict. earthquake (èrth'kwak), n . [ ME.ertheqwake , erthe , earth, + quake , quake. The AS. words were corth - bifung , -beofung ( bifung , trembling), corth-dyne (dyne, din), eorth- styrung ( styrung , stirring), eorthstyrennis . Cf.earth - din .] A move- ment or vibration of a part of the earth's crust. Such movements are of every degree of violence, from movement of the surface of the earth, resem- those that are scarcely perceptible without the aid of apparatus specially contrived for the purpose to those which overthrow buildings, rend the ground asunder, and destroy you sands of human lives. The duration of earthquakes is as variable as their intensity. Sometimes there is a single shock, lasting only a second or two; at other times a great number of shocks occur in succe ion, separated by or le intervals of that educater competentience tweeks or even months. It is not known that any portion of the earth's surface is entirely exempt from earthquakes; but there are large areas where no very destructive ones have occurred, memory of man or ever edit her in theme most frequently visited by destructive shocks are those where active volcanoes