erthe

Middle English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛrð(ə)/, /ˈeːrð(ə)/, /ˈɛːrð(ə)/, /-θ(ə)/

Etymology 1

From Old English eorþe, from Proto-West Germanic *erþu, from Proto-Germanic *erþō.

Alternative forms

• eerthe, eorthe, eorþe, oerþe, oerþ, ereth, erth, erþ, erþe, irthe, yrþe, orþe, ȝorthe, horþe, horðe, urþe, urthe, hurde, erde
• earþe, erðe, eorðe, eorth, herðe (Early Middle English)

Noun

erthe

1. Earth; the world
   • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, page 40:

     And I seide, “Ser, in his tyme maister Ioon Wiclef was holden of ful many men the grettis clerk that thei knewen lyuynge vpon erthe. And therwith he was named, as I gesse worthili, a passing reuli man and an innocent in al his lyuynge […] "

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. The Earth's people or inhabitants
3. country, realm
4. land, terrain
5. ground, earth, dirt, soil, clay
6. earth (one of the alchemical elements)

Related terms

• erthely
• erthen

Descendants

• English: earth, Earth
• Scots: erd (influenced by erd)
• Yola: erth, eorth, eart, eard, eord

References

• “ē̆rthe, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-21.

Etymology 2

From Old English ierþ; equivalent to eren (“to plough”) +‎ -the (abstract nominal suffix). Compare erd (“home”).

Alternative forms

• erþe

Noun

erthe (uncountable) (rare)

1. The ploughing of soil.
2. The amount of land ploughable in a day.

Descendants

• English: earth (confused with Etymology 1)

References

• “ē̆rthe, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Frisian

Alternative forms

• erde, irthe

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *erþu.

Noun

erthe f

1. earth

Inflection

Descendants

• Saterland Frisian: Äide, Idde, Äid
• West Frisian: ierde

References

• Köbler, Gerhard, Altfriesisches Wörterbuch (4th edition 2014)