Earthling

Earthling

Earthling refers to an individual of a species originating from earth. Historically the term referred to a mortal inhabitant of the earth (as opposed to immortals from the underworld or heaven.)

Etymology

The term earthling is originally from Old English "eorðe" (ground, soil, dry land) and the suffix "-ling" (from Old English "-ol", "-ul", "-el"; and "-ing", meaning "a person or thing of a specific kind or origin". First used in 1593, earthling (or worldling) referred to a mortal inhabitant of earth as opposed to one from heaven or the underworld. ["earthling." Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 27 Jul. 2008. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=earthling]

The first use of the word in the contemporary sense was by science fiction author, Robert A. Heinlein, in "Red Planet", 1949. [ The Heinlein Society, http://www.heinleinsociety.org/]

Usage

* Mistakenly thought of as only referring to humans, the term may refer to any species: "Russia fetes dog Laika, first earthling in space". [Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:23pm EDT, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL1117596720080411]
* The term was often used in 1950's science fiction film and novels by aliens to express a disdainful or patronising tone towards creatures from Earth, however, the term itself carries neither a negative nor a positive tone.
* Sentient, non-biological forms may also be referred to as earthlings if they originated from earth. Fact|date=July 2008

See also

* Terran

References


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Earthling — Earthling …   Википедия

  • Earthling — Earth ling, n. [Earth + ling.] An inhabitant of the earth; a mortal. [1913 Webster] Earthlings oft her deemed a deity. Drummond. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • earthling — (n.) O.E. yrþling plowman (see EARTH (Cf. earth) + LING (Cf. ling)); the sense of inhabitant of the earth is from 1590s. Earthman was originally (1860) a demon who lives in the earth; science fiction sense of inhabitant of the planet Earth first… …   Etymology dictionary

  • earthling — [n] human being earth dweller, humankind, man, person, tellurian, woman; concept 417 …   New thesaurus

  • earthling — ► NOUN ▪ (in science fiction) an inhabitant of the earth …   English terms dictionary

  • earthling — [ʉrth′liŋ] n. 1. a person who lives on the earth; human being: now used mainly in science fiction 2. a worldly person …   English World dictionary

  • Earthling — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Earthling (homonymie). Earthling Album par David Bowie Sortie 3 février 1997 Enregistrement …   Wikipédia en Français

  • earthling — UK [ˈɜː(r)θlɪŋ] / US [ˈɜrθlɪŋ] noun [countable] Word forms earthling : singular earthling plural earthlings a human. This word is used in science fiction stories by creatures from other planets …   English dictionary

  • Earthling — noun /ˈɜː(ɹ)θ.lɪŋ/ An inhabitant of the planet Earth (Generally in science fiction aliens who use the term Earthling look down on the people of earth.) Syn: Earthican, Earthman, Earthwoman, tellurian, Terran, t …   Wiktionary

  • earthling — [[t]ɜ͟ː(r)θlɪŋ[/t]] earthlings N COUNT: usu pl Earthling is used in science fiction to refer to human beings who live on the planet Earth …   English dictionary

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