earthbound

See also: earth-bound

English

Alternative forms

• Earthbound, earth-bound

Etymology

From earth +‎ -bound.

Adjective

earthbound (comparative more earthbound, superlative most earthbound)

1. Confined to the Earth; unable to leave Earth, either physically or spiritually.
   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     "Music, Smiley, music! Now the vibrations should be better." "The higher spirits cannot reach earth-bound folk," said Mailey.

   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 231:

     [B]ut only too often séances degenerate into pure sorcery or necromancy, attracting all kinds of undeveloped and earth-bound entities.

2. (science fiction) Heading towards Earth.
3. (figuratively) Unimaginative or mundane.

Derived terms

• nonearthbound

Related terms

• (heading towards Earth): earthward (adverb)

Translations

confined to the Earth

• Bulgarian: земен (bg) (zemen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 固定在地面上的

• Hungarian: földhöz kötött
• Vietnamese: nằm trên mặt đất, nằm trên bề mặt trái đất, bị giới hạn trên trái đất hoặc bề mặt trái đất

unimaginative or mundane

• Bulgarian: прозаичен (bg) (prozaičen), светски (bg) (svetski)
• French: terre-à-terre (fr)
• Hungarian: földhözragadt (hu)
• Vietnamese: thiếu tưởng tượng, thiếu tinh tế, bị ràng buộc bởi lợi ích trần thế

heading towards Earth

• Bulgarian: насочен към Земята (nasočen kǎm Zemjata)
• Hungarian: a föld felé tartó/közeledő/haladó/irányuló

References

• “earthbound, adj.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “earthbound, adj.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2025), “Earthbound, adj.¹; Earthbound, adj.²”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.