# earth

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ɜːθ/ · frequency rank #923

## Definitions
1. Alternative letter-case form of Earth; our planet, third out from the Sun.

## Etymology
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”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots erd, yerd, yird, yirth (“earth, loam, mould, soil; ground”), Yola eard, eart, eord, eorth, erth (“earth”), North Frisian eerd, eerde, iarde, Iart, iir, jard, örd, Öört (“earth; world”), Saterland Frisian Idde, Äid, Äide (“earth; soil; ground”), West Frisian ierde (“earth; soil; ground”), Alemannic German Ëërde (“earth”), Bavarian Erd, Erdn (“world; soil; ground”), Central Franconian Ääd (“earth”), Cimbrian èerda (“earth”), Dutch aard, aarde (“earth”), German Erde (“earth; soil; ground; world”), German Low German Eer (“earth”), Limburgish eerd (“earth”), Luxembourgish Äerd (“earth; soil”), Vilamovian Ād (“earth”), Yiddish ערד (erd, “earth; soil”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish jord (“earth”), Faroese jørð (“earth”), Icelandic jörð (“earth”), Norn yurn (“the earth”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰 (airþa, “earth”); also Latin ōra (“border, edge, rim”), Breton erv (“ridge between furrows”), Welsh erw (“acre”), Ancient Greek ἔραζε (éraze, “to the ground”), Lithuanian erdvė (“expanse, space”), Albanian varr, vorr (“grave”), Tocharian B āre (“dust, loose earth”), Sanskrit उर्वरा (urvarā, “fertile soil, field yielding crops”), Hittite 𒅕𒄩𒀸 (er-ḫa-aš /⁠erḫaš⁠/, “border, boundary, line”).
Probably unrelated, but of unknown etymology, is Old Armenian երկիր (erkir, “earth”). Likewise, the phonologically similar Proto-Semitic *ʔarṣ́- – whence Arabic أَرْض (ʔarḍ), Hebrew אֶרֶץ (ʾereṣ) – is probably unrelated.

## Easily confused with
- **eat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earth-vs-eat)
- **eth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earth-vs-eth)
- **east** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earth-vs-east)
- **eats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earth-vs-eats)
- **Edith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earth-vs-edith)
- **earths** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earth-vs-earths)
- **earthy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earth-vs-earthy)
- **earthly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earth-vs-earthly)
- **earthen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earth-vs-earthen)
- **ear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ear-vs-earth)
- **each** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/each-vs-earth)
- **earn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earn-vs-earth)
- **ears** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ears-vs-earth)
- **earl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earl-vs-earth)
- **Earp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earp-vs-earth)
- **early** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/early-vs-earth)
- **earns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earns-vs-earth)
- **Earle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/earle-vs-earth)
- **eared** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eared-vs-earth)

## Common misspellings (7)
`aerth`, `earht`, `earrth`, `earthh`, `eartth`, `eatrh`, `erath`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/earth