terra

||Ter"ra (?), n. [It. & L. See Terrace.]

The earth; earth.

Terra alba [L., white earth] (Com.), a white amorphous earthy substance consisting of burnt gypsum, aluminium silicate (kaolin), or some similar ingredient, as magnesia. It is sometimes used to adulterate certain foods, spices, candies, paints, etc. -- Terra cotta. [It., fr. terra earth + cotta, fem. of cotto cooked, L. coctus, p. p. of coquere to cook. See Cook, n.] Baked clay; a kind of hard pottery used for statues, architectural decorations, figures, vases, and the like. -- Terræ filius [L., son of the earth], formerly, one appointed to write a satirical Latin poem at the public acts in the University of Oxford; -- not unlike the prevaricator at Cambridge, England. -- Terra firma [L.], firm or solid earth, as opposed to water. -- Terra Japonica. [NL.] Same as Gambier. It was formerly supposed to be a kind of earth from Japan. -- Terra Lemnia [L., Lemnian earth], Lemnian earth. See under Lemnian. -- Terra ponderosa [L., ponderous earth] (Min.), barite, or heavy spar. -- Terra di Sienna. See Sienna.