telluric

English

Etymology

A borrowing of French tellurique, from Latin tellus (“earth; earthy”) and Tellus (“Earth, Gaia”) and -ique (forming adjectives). Subsequently also from tellurium, originally in telluric oxide from German Telluroxyd.

Adjective

telluric (comparative more telluric, superlative most telluric)

1. Pertaining to the Earth, earthly

   Synonyms: earthly, terrestrial, tellurian, terrene

   • 1981, Italo Calvino, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler:

     My sister always says she loves novels where you feel an elemental strength, primordial, telluric.

2. (chemistry) Containing tellurium in a lower valency than in tellurous compounds.

Derived terms

• hydrotelluric
• telluric acid
• telluric bismuth
• telluric current
• telluric gold
• telluric iron
• telluric ocher, telluric ochre
• telluric oxide
• telluric silver

 

Translations

pertaining to the Earth

• Dutch: aards (nl)
• Esperanto: tera
• Finnish: telluurinen (fi)
• French: tellurique (fr)
• Italian: tellurico (it)
• Portuguese: telúrico (pt)
• Spanish: telúrico (es)

containing tellurium in a lower valency than in tellurous compounds

• French: tellurique (fr)
• Italian: tellurico (it)
• Portuguese: telúrico (pt)
• Spanish: telúrico (es)

Noun

telluric (plural tellurics)

1. Synonym of telluric current
   • 1964, United States. National Bureau of Standards, Technical News Bulletin, volumes 48-49, page 131:

     Other projects in progress at CRPL involve the study of audiofrequency tellurics (current induced in the earth) and earth conductivity measurements using atmospherics.

See also

• tellurous