Etymology

terra alba

Today it means: A white earthy substance consisting of burnt gypsum and aluminium silicate (kaolin), or some similar ingredient, such as magnesia. It is sometimes used to adulterate certain foods, spices, candies, paints, etc. Full definition →

Proto-Indo-European *ters-
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ters-
  2. English todayterra alba

Borrowed from Latin terra (“earth”) + alba (“white”), literally meaning "white earth". Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ters-.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*ters- all →

thirstTyrolterraqueous

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.