Terra Mater or Tellus was a goddess personifying the Earth in Roman mythology. The names Terra Mater and Tellus Mater both mean "Mother Earth" in Latin; Mater is an honorific title also bestowed on other goddesses.
Romans appealed to her over earthquakes, and along with the grain goddess Ceres, she was responsible for the productivity of farmland. She was also associated with marriage, motherhood, pregnant women, and pregnant animals. Terra's Greek counterpart is Gaia.
Some linguists studying the Indo-European languages believe
that the two words Terra and Tellus derive from
the formulaic phrase tersa tellus, meaning "dry
land". If this is true, Tellus might be the more
ancient version of the name. According to the Oxford Classical
Dictionary, Terra refers to the element
earth (one of the four basic elements of earth, air, water, and
fire) and Tellus refers to the guardian deity of Earth and
by extension the globe itself.[1] Actual
classical Latin usage does not necessarily appear to respect this
distinction.[2]
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   | Myth: Tellus Mater - Tellus Mater - Who Is Tellus Mater |
| | Tellus Institute - Tellus Institute - For a Great Transition |
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