telluric
adjective, noun
Forms tellurics
- adjective Pertaining to the Earth, earthly.
- adjective (chemistry) Containing tellurium in a lower valency than in tellurous compounds.
- noun Synonym of telluric current.
Synonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Of or pertaining to the earth; proceeding from the earth.
- adjective Of or pertaining to tellurium; derived from, or resembling, tellurium; specifically, designating those compounds in which the element has a higher valence as contrasted with tellurous compounds; as, telluric acid, which is analogous to sulphuric acid. Telluric bismuth (Min.), tetradymite.
Etymology [L. tellus, -uris, the earth: cf. F. tellurique.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “telluric”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details