Standard Lemma guide

earthly

adj · adv · noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈəːθli/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: ER1 TH L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The Garden of Earthly Delights is full of earthly joys alongside grotesqueries, monstrosities, and torture.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: worldly, worldy, terrestrial, material, mundane, sublunar, sublunary, profane, temporal, areligious, civil, earthly, irreligious, laicist, laicistic, nonreligious, secular, unconsecrated, unsanctified, common, impious, impure, mishallowed, unhallowed, unholy, ephemeral, brief, deciduous, evanescent, fleeting, flying, fugacious, fugitive, instant, momentary, passing, perishable, quick, seasonable, short, short-lived, temporary, transient, transitive, transitory, volatile, whilend

Antonyms: heavenly, celestial, otherworldly, ethereal, empyreal, empyrean, etheric, transcendental, sublime, spiritual, eternal, blessed, devoutful, divine, hallowed, holy, godly, sacred, sanctimonious, ageful, agelong, amaranthine, endless, enduring, eterne, everduring, evergreen, everlasting, eviternal, forever, imperishable, indesinent, lasting, never-ending, perennial, permanent, perpetual, perpetuate, persistent, sempiternal, timeless, unending, undeadly, undying

2

adj

Meaning 2

Made of earth; earthy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Used in negative contructions for emphasis.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

Examples

  • There is no earthly way, I mean no way on earth, that I will ever do that.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Alternative letter-case form of earthly (“relating to the Earth”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adv

Meaning 5

in an earthly manner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

That which is of the earth or earthly; a terrestrial being.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: collective, in-plural

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A slightest chance (of success etc.) or idea (about something).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, colloquial

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

adjective

Meaning 8

of or belonging to or characteristic of this earth as distinguished from heaven

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • earthly beings
  • believed that our earthly life is all that matters
  • earthly love
  • our earthly home

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: heavenly

History

Etymology

From Middle English erthely, erthlich, ierðlich, from Old English eorþlīċ, corresponding to earth + -ly. Cognate with Old Norse jarðligr (“earthly”).

By surface analysis, Earth + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: земен (zemen) — as opposed to heaven
  • Bulgarian: светски (svetski) — as opposed to heaven
  • Catalan: terrenal — as opposed to heaven
  • Czech: pozemský — as opposed to heaven
  • Esperanto: tera — as opposed to heaven
  • French: terrestre — as opposed to heaven
  • Galician: terreal — as opposed to heaven
  • German: weltlich — as opposed to heaven
  • Gothic: 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍃 (airþakunds) — as opposed to heaven
  • Greek: επίγειος (epígeios) — as opposed to heaven
  • Ancient Greek: ἐπίγειος (epígeios) — as opposed to heaven
  • Hindi: पार्थिव (pārthiv) — as opposed to heaven
  • Hindi: लौकिक (laukik) — as opposed to heaven
  • Hindi: सांसारिक (sānsārik) — as opposed to heaven
  • Hindi: भौमिक (bhaumik) — as opposed to heaven
  • Hungarian: földi — as opposed to heaven
  • Hungarian: evilági — as opposed to heaven
  • Italian: terrestre — as opposed to heaven
  • Japanese: 地上の (chijō-no) — as opposed to heaven
  • Japanese: 現世の (gense-no) — as opposed to heaven
  • Latin: terrestris — as opposed to heaven
  • Māori: whakawhenua — as opposed to heaven
  • Middle English: erthely — as opposed to heaven
  • Persian: زمینی (zamini) — as opposed to heaven
  • Polish: świecki — as opposed to heaven
  • Polish: naziemny — as opposed to heaven
  • Polish: ziemski — as opposed to heaven
  • Portuguese: terreno — as opposed to heaven
  • Romanian: pământesc — as opposed to heaven
  • Russian: земно́й (zemnój) — as opposed to heaven
  • Russian: мирско́й (mirskój) — as opposed to heaven
  • Russian: су́етный (sújetnyj) — as opposed to heaven
  • Russian: све́тский (svétskij) — as opposed to heaven
  • Spanish: terrenal — as opposed to heaven
  • Tocharian B: kenätstse — as opposed to heaven