地球
Chikyū[t͡ɕi̥kʲɨː]
The English word "earth" is translated into Japanese as 地球 (Chikyū) when referring to the planet.
The term 地球 is used specifically to name the third planet of the Solar System. When you want to talk about the material of the earth, such as soil, dirt or general rock-based matter, you should use a different word.
Meaning: third planet of the Solar System (name)
What does it mean word for word?
The word 地球 is composed of the characters for "ground/earth" (地) and "sphere" (球).
Which one should you use?
Use 地球 (Chikyū) when referring to the planet.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
Chikyū
Did you know?
- The term 地球 was actually proposed by the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci in the 16th century. He used the Chinese characters to create a term that would be understood across East Asia.
- The character 球 in 地球 is the same one used in 野球 (yakyū), meaning 'baseball', because both refer to a sphere.
- In Japanese pop culture and anime, characters from space often refer to 地球人 (chikyū-jin), which literally means 'earth-person' rather than 'human'.
Examples in context
- 地球は丸い。The earth is round.The first sentence is useful for describing the shape of the planet using 地球.Tatoeba #126969 by bunbuku, translation #277121 by CK
- 地球は美しい。The earth is beautiful.The second sentence is useful for describing the appearance of the planet using 地球.Tatoeba #11752819 by small_snow, translation #8910130 by shekitten
- 月は地球から遠い。The moon is distant from the earth.The third sentence is useful for describing the distance of the moon from 地球.Tatoeba #175635 by tommy__san, translation #238830 by timmartin
- 地球は美しい惑星です。Earth is a beautiful planet.
- この本は地球環境についての重要な情報を提供します。This book provides important information about the Earth's environment.
- 95 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Yui and Daito are talking about science class.
- 結衣 Yui地球の歴史について勉強した？Chikyū no rekishi ni tsuite benkyō shita?Did you study the history of Earth?
- 大翔 Hirotoうん、すごく面白かったよ。Un, sugoku omoshirokatta yo.Yeah, it was really interesting.
- 結衣 Yui地球以外に住める星はあるかな。Chikyū igai ni sumeru hoshi wa aru kana.I wonder if there are planets other than Earth where we could live.
- 大翔 Hirotoいつか見つかると思うよ。Itsuka mitsukaru to omou yo.I think we'll find one someday.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “earth” translations and entries 地球, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 地球, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
