preterrestrial en · ADJ
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae-lbor. Middle English pre- English pre- English terrestrial English preterrestrial From pre- + terrestrial.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Prior to the formation of Earth
The System of the World of Laplace is the history of a preterrestrial era, the history of the world before the formation of the planet Earth, or if one prefers, of the Earth in its unity with the Sun.
1980, Eugenio Donato, “The Museum's Furnace”, in Textual Strategies, →ISBN, page 235:
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(not-comparable) Occurring prior to a meteorite's impact with Earth
A plagioclase glass in some chondrites and irons formed by preterrestrial impact between meteorites in space.
2003, American Geological Institute, Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms, →ISBN, page 333: