אֶרֶץ, רצץ; Ch. a. oth. dial. ארע fr. רעע to press together, stamp—from the rugged appearance of the surface after the subsidence of the waters) earth, dry land; country, land, field (opp. to town). Ex. R. s. 13 … threw dust upon the waters ונעשה א׳ and earth (crust) was formed.—א׳ ישראל (abbr. א"י) Palestine, opp. חוצה לָאָ׳, or מדינת הים foreign countries, or distant countries. Gitt. I, 2. Ib. 6ᵃ; a. fr.—הָאָרֶץ Palestine, Ḥull. 16ᵇ משנכנסו לא׳ since entering Palestine (under Joshua); a. fr.—עם הָאָ׳ (abbr. ע"ה) country people, hence illiterate, coarse, unrefined (often applied to an individual); pl. עַמֵּי הא׳, opp. תלמיד חכם. Sabb. 63ᵃ. Ḥull. 92ᵃ; a. v. fr.—Esp. ע"ה those not observing certain religious customs regarding tithes, levitical cleanness &c., opp. חָבֵר q. v. Dem. I, 2; a. fr.—Pl. אֲרָצוֹת. Shebi. IX, 2 שלש א׳ וכ׳ Palestine is divided into three countries with reference to the laws of the Sabbath year. Keth. 111ᵃ; a. e., v. עִיסָה; a. fr.