Terraforming

//ˈtɛɹəfɔːmɪŋ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, etc. to make it similar to those of Earth and thus suitable for human life. uncountable

    "Almarcrux's abundant water and relatively mild temperature and gravity have placed it on the short list of terraforming candidate worlds. However, there is significant opposition from eco-ethics groups, who assert that Almarcrux's primitive methanotrophic bacteria may be a precursor to a full-fledged native ecology."

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of terraform form-of, gerund, participle, present

Example

More examples

"Mars was a desert for many centuries of human colonization until terraforming was developed."

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.