As we mentioned in the last post, there are many ways you can find new words to add to your vocabulary. Some people like “word of the day” calendars, or being sent a new word via e-mail every day. Other people prefer to follow a strict study routine and use a list of words that they’re given by an instructor every week. Many people learn words without even realizing it by playing word-based games like crossword puzzles or trivia games. If you remember that you’re surrounded by words that are just waiting for you in the pages of books, the subtitles of movies, and even the advertisements on roadside billboards, you’ll never run out of new and interesting words to learn. We cast our eyes to the heavens again for today’s post, and found more words for you that are related to the stars and planets.

martial (MAR-shuhl)
Like the other planets, Mars is named for a Roman god. Mars was a god of war (the Greeks called him Ares) and the blood-red appearance of the planet in our night skies made the name appropriate. From the name of the planet and the god, we get the adjective martial, which means “warlike” or “related to the military” (don’t confuse this word with marital, which means something else entirely!).

meteoric (mee-tee-OR-ick)
If you’ve ever seen a “shooting star” you’ll recognize the definition of this word in your memory of the flash of light across the sky, so quick that your eyes can barely follow. Meteoric means “very rapid.” A meteor is a piece of space rock (or debris) that burns up in the atmosphere, leaving a visible trail.

terrestrial (tuh-RES-tree-uhl)
Of all the planets in our solar system, only the Earth is not named for a god – when the planets were named, people didn’t realize that they were living on a planet themselves! The word “Earth” comes from the Old German word for “dirt” (erde). The word terrestrial has its roots in the Latin word for “earth” (terra). In general, when we use this word we mean “of the land” but also “based on Earth” – hence the word for an alien, extraterrestrial (extra- means “outside of”).

celestial (suh-LESS-tyal)
The opposite of terrestrial is celestial, meaning “of the sky, of the heavens” (from the Latin caelum, “heaven”). This word is used both in religion to refer to angels and gods and heaven in general, and in science to refer to stars and other objects in the sky.

Whether you get your inspiration from a higher plane or from your daily reading, keep adding new words to your vocabulary and you’ll soon be a star at communicating with your terrestrial neighbors.