earthling n.
a native or inhabitant of Earth
OED has evidence from the sixteenth century for the sense ‘an inhabitant of the earth, in contrast to Heaven’
Demonyms
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1858 Fayetteville (N. Carolina) Observer 18 Oct. 2/3
The last time the great comet was seen by us earthlings is said to be three hundred years ago.
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1892
In Neptune I a story gat Few earthlings would indorse: Men treat their bodies well as that Of any blooded horse.
City Festivals 89 -
1896
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George Parsons Lathrop
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You earthlings debate as to the existence or non-existence of Hell and there it is, staring you in the face all the time.
In the Deep of Time in Morning Times (Washington, DC) 27 Dec. 16/4 -
1930
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Hugo Gernsback
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The intelligence of Martians, if there be any, must be far in advance of that of earthlings.
Life on Other Planets in Wonder Stories Dec. 629/1 -
1940
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Harry Bates
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Hinged robots of crude manlike appearance were familiar enough, but never had Earthling eyes lain on one like this.
Farewell to the Master in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 59/1
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1950
Poul Anderson
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There’d been Earthling girls; and not a few Khazaki women had been intrigued by the big Terrestrial.
Star Ship in Planet Stories Oct. 74/1
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1959
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
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Advance units of the Martian Imperial Commandos had already obliterated Earthling installations on the Earthling moon. The Commando rocket batteries, firing from the moon, were now giving every major city a taste of hell.
Sirens of Titan 133
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1968
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I suspect that the character’s remote quality—a sort of loneliness because he is different from the rest of the Earthling crew—makes the kids react.
in S. E. Whitfield & G. Roddenberry Making of ‘Star Trek’ v. 232
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1984
David Brin
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Earthlings had had to struggle and experiment for thousands of years to reach a level of comfort these people achieved almost without thinking.
Practice Effect i. 99
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1985
Bruce Sterling
Rudy Rucker
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The dog Laika has been shot into the cosmic void. A good dog, a Russian, an Earthling.
Storming Cosmos in B. Sterling Globalhead (1994) 18
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1993
Helen Collins
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You and I will be collecting Anunna! We will have no interest in Earthlings like Barney and his daughters.
Mutagenesis 20
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1993
Algis Budrys
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Furthermore, I did not know if an un-Earthling had ever previously been encountered, but that did not mean much; you can trust any branch of the service above a certain level of rank to keep its secrets.
Hard Landing 100
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1997 2000 AD 28 Oct. (verso front cover)
According to everything I see and read on this world, one word seems to prey on the minds of most Earthlings; sex. Certainly my editorial droids seem to spend a lot of time discussing the topic, hence this special sex-themed prog.
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2006
S. M. Stirling
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The newcomers spared a few startled glances at them: You had to look fairly closely to see that they weren’t common garden-variety Caucasoid Earthlings.
Sky People i. 21
Research requirements
antedating 1858
Earliest cite
Fayetteville (N. Carolina) Observer
Research History
Simon Koppel submitted an 1896 cite from G. P. Lathrop.The OED entry was revised in Dec. 2010, discriminating between the sense of an inhabitant of earth rather than heaven (earliest cite 1593), and the SF sense of an inhabitant of earth rather than another planet (earliest cite 1858)
Last modified 2021-04-15 11:16:21
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.