Earthship

• (science fiction, architecture sense) earthship, Earth ship
• (poetic sense) earth-ship, Earth-ship

Compound of Earth +‎ ship. In the architectural sense, coined by American architect Michael E. Reynolds.

Earthship (plural Earthships)

1. (architecture) A solar-heated house made of natural and recycled materials, such as earth-filled tyres.
   • 2000, Daniel D. Chiras, The Natural House, page 118:

     If you like the idea of building an Earthship, but can't, perhaps because your neighbors would hang you by your toes from a tree, or if you don't like the appearance of an Earthship but like many of its features, don't despair.

   • 2011, Eric Corey Freed, Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies, page 191:

     In 1969, Reynolds moved to Taos, New Mexico, where he began building homes out of the junk he could find lying around. He continues to live today in an Earthship community he founded in the outskirts of Taos.

2. (poetic) The Earth, considered as a spaceship moving through space.
3. (science fiction) A spaceship originating from or belonging to Earth.

• “Earthship”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “Earthship, n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.