Chinese

地球

/ti⁵¹ t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/
the Earth
  • HSK 2
  • TOCFL 5

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
React Flow

點擊節點放大 · Click a node to zoom in

Origin

Coined by Matteo Ricci (Huang, 2003), analogous to 天球 (tiānqiú, “celestial sphere”).

Possibly attested in the map 山海輿地全圖 [c. 1600] by Matteo Ricci, which was lost but reproduced in 月令廣義 [1602]. The term is certainly attested no later than 1602, in Kunyu Wanguo Quantu.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • characterChinese地 “earth”
    • meaningChinese土 “earth; soil”
    • soundChinese也 “Particle used at the end of copular constructions involving a nominal predicate; to be (although no…”
  • characterChinese球 “fine jade”
    • meaningChinese玉 “jade (originally nephrite, now also including jadeite)”
    • soundChinese求 “to seek; to look for”

Sources