terra firma

n.
Solid ground; dry land.

[New Latin : Latin terra, earth + Latin firma, feminine of firmus, solid.]

(TER-uh FUR-muh)

noun
Solid ground; dry land.

Etymology
From Latin terra (earth) + firma, feminine of firmus (solid). Ultimately from Indo-European root ters- (to dry) that is the source of words such as territory, terrace, turmeric, and toast

Usage
"But as we pushed it back, the back wheels sank deeper into the mud. We finally managed to push the plane onto the firma terra and we resumed our flight for Erave station in Samberigi." — Wheels of Death; The National (Boroko, Papua New Guinea); Aug 1, 2004.

"Clayton Cook would rather see more air time than simply driving over the terra firma." — Dale Woodard; Taking Flight; Daily Herald-Tribune (Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada); Aug 5, 2004.

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solid earth (as opposed to water and air)

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the solid part of the earth's surface
  Synonyms: land, dry land, earth, ground, solid ground

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