Erthe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The loose surface material of land, or the ground itself ; the world we live in, the planet on which humankind dwells
2. An archaic spelling for the ground beneath our feet ; the globe inhabited by people, the world as a whole
3. Old form of the word for the soil that covers the land ; the planet, the wide world where all living beings exist

Etymology: "Erthe" is a Middle English spelling of "earth," the form medieval writers used before English spelling settled. It descends from Old English "eorþe," which goes back to a Proto-Germanic root "*erþō." That root survives in German "Erde" and Dutch "aarde," so the same word for the ground under your feet runs through the whole Germanic family. In Old English, "eorþe" covered soil and dirt as well as the land people walked on, and it could also mean the world as a whole. Spelling was unstandardised, so "erthe," "erde," and "eorþe" were all acceptable ways to write the same noun. The "-the" ending reflects the Middle English letter "þ," which represented the same "th" sound.