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Origin and history of globe

globe(n.)

late 14c., "a large mass;" mid-15c., "spherical solid body, a sphere," from Old French globe (14c.) and directly from Latin globus "round mass, sphere, ball" (also, of men, "a throng, crowd, body, mass"), which is related to gleba "clod, lump of soil" (see glebe) and perhaps also to glomus "a ball, ball of yarn."

Sense of "the planet earth," also "map of the earth or sky drawn on the surface of an artificial sphere" are attested from 1550s. Meaning "globe-shaped glass vessel" is from 1660s. "A globe is often solid, a sphere often hollow. The secondary senses of globe are physical; those of sphere are moral." [Century Dictionary].

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to globe

glebe(n.)

late 14c., "soil of the earth; cultivated land;" also "a piece of land forming part of a clergyman's benefice," from Old French glebe, from Latin gleba, glaeba "clod, lump of earth," possibly from a PIE *glem- or *glom-, which might mean "contain, embrace" or "ball," or might be two different roots. Possible cognates include Old English clamm "a tie, fetter;" Old High German klamma "trap, gorge;" Old Irish glomar "gag, curb;" Latin globus "sphere," gleba, glaeba "clod, lump of earth;" Old English clyppan "to embrace;" Lithuanian glėbys "armful," globti "to embrace, support."

global(adj.)

1670s, "spherical," from globe + -al (1). Meaning "worldwide, universal, pertaining to the whole globe of the earth" is from 1892, from a sense development in French. Global village first attested 1960, popularized, if not coined, by Canadian educator Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980).

Postliterate man's electronic media contract the world to a village or tribe where everything happens to everyone at the same time: everyone knows about, and therefore participates in, everything that is happening the minute it happens. Television gives this quality of simultaneity to events in the global village. [Carpenter & McLuhan, "Explorations in Communication," 1960]
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earth
Old English eorþe "ground, soil, dirt, dry land; country, district," also used (along with middangeard) for "the (material) world, the abode of man" (as opposed to the heavens or the underworld), from Proto-Germanic *ertho (source also of Old Frisian erthe "earth," Old Saxon erth
world
Old English woruld, worold "human existence, the affairs of life," also "a long period of time," also "the human race, mankind, humanity," a word peculiar to Germanic languages (cognates: Old Saxon werold, Old Frisian warld, Dutch wereld, Old Norse verold, Old High German weralt,
ball
"round object, compact spherical body," also "a ball used in a game," c. 1200, probably from an unrecorded Old English *beal, *beall (evidenced by the diminutive bealluc "testicle"), or from cognate Old Norse bollr "ball," from Proto-Germanic *balluz (source also of Dutch bal, Fl
sphere
re-Latinized spelling, attested beginning mid-15c., of Middle English spere (c. 1300) "cosmos; space, conceived as a hollow globe...about the world," from Anglo-French espiere, Old French espere (13c., Modern French sphère), from Latin sphaera "globe,...ball, celestial sphere" (Medieval Latin spera), from Greek sphaira "globe, ball, playing ball, terrestrial globe," a word...Also from late 14c. in the general sense of "a globe; object of spherical form, a ball," and in the geometric sense of "solid...
orb
mid-15c., "sphere, globe, something spherical or circular, orbit of a heavenly body," from Old French orbe "orb, globe" (...
continent
As "one of the large land masses of the globe" from 1610s....
flivver
[Boston Globe, Feb. 20, 1910] A character in a comical column from The Philadelphia Inquirer of Aug. 16, 1909, says it is...
land
Old English lond, land, "ground, soil," also "definite portion of the earth's surface, home region of a person or a people, territory marked by political boundaries," from Proto-Germanic *landja- (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian Dutch, Gothic land, German Land), perhaps fro
terra firma
c. 1600, "part of the Italian mainland ruled by Venice," from Modern Latin terra firma, literally "firm land," from Latin terra "earth, land" (from PIE root *ters- "to dry") + firma, fem. of firmus "strong, steadfast" (from suffixed form of PIE root *dher- "to hold firmly, suppor
simulation
mid-14c., simulacioun, "a false show, false profession," from Old French simulation "pretence" and directly from Latin simulationem (nominative simulatio) "an imitating, feigning, false show, hypocrisy," noun of action from past-participle stem of simulare "imitate," from stem of

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