terrestrial

noun

1. A ground-dwelling plant.
2. (alt-of)Alternative letter-case form of Terrestrial (“Inhabitant of Earth”).

   “It will be manifest that natural scenery must present many beautiful varieties of effect altogether unfamiliar to us terrestrials, who know of no colours in scenery except those inherent in the objects themselves which form the landscape.”

3. An inhabitant of the planet Earth.

   “It will be manifest that natural scenery must present many beautiful varieties of effect altogether unfamiliar to us terrestrials, who know of no colours in scenery except those inherent in the objects themselves which form the landscape.”

   “The other was not a Terrestrial, but a visiting Martian.”

   “There'd been Earthling girls; and not a few Khazaki women had been intrigued by the big Terrestrial.”

adj

1. (not-comparable)Of, relating to, or inhabiting the land of the Earth or its inhabitants, earthly.

   “Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.”

2. (not-comparable)Of, relating to, or composed of land or earth.

   “quoted in 2022, C. F. G. Clark, The Curiosities of Dudley and the Black Country […] yet this stone [Cannock] is so Sulphurious and Terrestrial, not fit to make Iron; […]”

   “Microorganisms are the Cinderellas of terrestrial ecology — the majority of the Earth's biomass, yet barely catalogued.”

3. (not-comparable)Living or growing in or on land (as opposed to other habitat); not aquatic, not holoepiphytic, etc.

   “a terrestrial plant”

   “Typically, tarantulas are either terrestrial or arboreal, but the Chilobrachys natanicharum can live in both enivronments^([sic]), the researchers said, demonstrating its adaptability.”

4. (not-comparable)Of a planet, being composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals; see also terrestrial planet.
5. (not-comparable)Concerned with the world or worldly matters.

   “A genius bright and base, / Of towering talents, and terrestrial aims.”

6. (Mormonism, not-comparable)Of or pertaining to the second highest degree of glory.

   “We are now living and obeying celestial laws that will make us candidates for celestial glory; or we are living terrestrial laws that will make us candidates for terrestrial glory; or telestial.”

   “Theirs is an everlasting terrestrial inheritance because they rejected the truth when it was offered to them in mortality.”

7. (not-comparable)Broadcast using radio waves as opposed to satellite or cable.