Etymograph

English

earthly

Earthly comes from Middle English erthely ‘like earth’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁érteh₂.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁érteh₂1‘earth’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*erþō2‘earth’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*erþu2‘earth, world’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150eorþe3‘the planet Earth’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150eorþlīċ4‘earthly, terrestrial’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500erthely4‘like earth’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1533earthly4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *erþō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English eorþe
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English eorþlic
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English earthly
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1533, John Frith: “We have this […] treasure in frail, brittle, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁érteh₂Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *erþō‘earth’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*erþōWiktionary, Old English eorþe‘earth’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*erþuWiktionary, Old English eorþe‘earth, world’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150eorþeWiktionary, Old English eorþlic‘the planet Earth’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150eorþlīċWiktionary, English earthly‘earthly, terrestrial’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500erthelyWiktionary, English earthly‘like earth’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1533earthlyWiktionary, English earthly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1533, John Frith: “We have this […] treasure in frail, brittle, and…”

Formed from earth + -ly

Proto-Indo-European *h₁er- ‘earth’

Proto-Germanic *erþō ‘dirt, ground, earth’

Proto-West Germanic *erþu ‘earth’

Old English eorþe ‘ground’

Middle English erthe ‘earth’

English earth

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *h₁érteh₂

Today it means

adj Relating to the earth or this world, as opposed to heaven or the heavens.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “earthly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *erþō, Old English eorþe, Old English eorþlic. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁érteh₂ / earthly

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