preterrestrial

English

Etymology

From pre- +‎ terrestrial.

Adjective

preterrestrial (not comparable)

  1. Prior to the formation of Earth
    • 1980, Eugenio Donato, “The Museum's Furnace”, in Textual Strategies‎[1], →ISBN, page 235:
      The System of the World of Laplace is the history of a preterrestrial era, the history of the world before the formation of the planet Earth, or if one prefers, of the Earth in its unity with the Sun.
  2. (geology) Occurring prior to a meteorite's impact with Earth
    • 2003, American Geological Institute, Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms‎[2], →ISBN, page 333:
      A plagioclase glass in some chondrites and irons formed by preterrestrial impact between meteorites in space.

Derived terms

  • preterrestrially
  • postterrestrial
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