TERRESTRIAL PLANET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does terrestrial planet mean? 

• TERRESTRIAL PLANET (noun)
  The noun TERRESTRIAL PLANET has 1 sense:

1. a planet having a compact rocky surface like the Earth's; the four innermost planets in the solar system

  Familiarity information: TERRESTRIAL PLANET used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TERRESTRIAL PLANET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A planet having a compact rocky surface like the Earth's; the four innermost planets in the solar system

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("terrestrial planet" is a kind of...):

major planet; planet ((astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction)

Instance hyponyms:

earth; globe; world (the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on)

Mars; Red Planet (a small reddish planet that is the 4th from the sun and is periodically visible to the naked eye; minerals rich in iron cover its surface and are responsible for its characteristic color)

Mercury (the smallest planet and the nearest to the sun)

Venus (the second nearest planet to the sun; it is peculiar in that its rotation is slow and retrograde (in the opposite sense of the Earth and all other planets except Uranus); it is visible from Earth as an early 'morning star' or an 'evening star')

 Context examples 

In hope of witnessing an even larger impact, which is a key step in the birth of a terrestrial planet, the astronomers turned to Spitzer to observe the star regularly.

(Spitzer Telescope Witnesses Asteroid Smashup, NASA)

The dust around Proxima is important because, following the discovery of the terrestrial planet Proxima b, it’s the first indication of the presence of an elaborate planetary system, and not just a single planet, around the star closest to our Sun.

(ALMA Discovers Cold Dust Around Nearest Star, ESO)