earth
/ɝθ/noun, verb
earth is spelled E-A-R-T-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 115 times per million words in written English, the 932nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Earth, the name). As a noun, earth means “Soil” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of earth is earths.
How many letters and syllables are in earth?
| Letters | 5: E-A-R-T-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 115 times per million words; the 932nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is earth?
Earth appears 115 times per million words in written English, the 932nd most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Earth, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce earth?
- UK /ɜːθ/
- US /ɝθ/
- /ɵːθ/
Earth has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-earth.ogg, En-us-earth.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with earth?
8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as earth from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹθ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: heart, hater, rathe, rehat.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of earth
- earths plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- airth
- earthing participle, present
- earthed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does earth mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Soil.
This is good earth for growing potatoes.
- 2
Any general rock-based material.
She sighed when the plane's wheels finally touched earth.
- 3
The ground, land (as opposed to the sky or sea).
Birds are of the sky, not of the earth.
- 4
UKA connection electrically to the earth ((US) ground); on equipment: a terminal connected in that manner.
- 5
The lair or den (as a hole in the ground, or a system of tunnels) of an animal, such as a badger.
- 6
A region of the planet; a land or country.
- 7
Worldly things, as against spiritual ones.
- 8
The world of our current life (as opposed to heaven or an afterlife).
verb
- 1
UKTo connect electrically to the earth.
That noise is because the amplifier is not properly earthed.
- 2
To bury.
- 3
To hide, or cause to hide, in the earth; to chase into a burrow or den.
- 4
To burrow.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Earth in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | terre, sol , terrier , relier à la terre, mettre à la terre , enterrer |
| German | Erde, Land , erden , beerdigen , Grund |
| Portuguese | terra, solo , aterrar , enterrar , chão |
| Spanish | tierra, suelo , aterrar, conectar a tierra, poner a tierra , terreno |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does earth come from?
From Middle English erthe, from Old English eorþe, from Proto-West Germanic *erþu, from Proto-Germanic *erþō (“dirt, ground, earth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁érteh₂ (“earth”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).