all other planets and dwarfs were named after greek and roman gods
2006-08-25 03:54:26 · 12 answers · asked by annetact 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
Earth is Old English and German in origin, related to the Old Saxon 'ertha', the Dutch 'aerde', and the German 'erda'. Terra is a French and Latin word, and so isn't part of the 'Earth' etymology. I'm not really an expert on words and word origins, but it seems likely that people used Earth to mean 'land' and then it was the natural thing to refer to all the land and the planet. I tried to look up more specific details about the specific usage of the word over time, but even the Oxford English Dictionary (online) admits:
"Men's notions of the shape and position of the earth have so greatly changed since Old Teutonic times, while the language of the older notions has long outlived them, that it is very difficult to arrange the senses and applications of the word in any historical order."
2006-08-25 04:02:31 · answer #1 · answered by I I 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In a strictly technical sense, our planet is called "Earth" because the International Astronomical Union says so.
Earth is the only planet whose English name does not derive from Greek/Roman mythology. The name derives from Old English and Germanic. There are, of course, many other names for our planet in other languages.
The word for 'Earth' is not the same in all of Earth's languages. Here are a few examples:
Afrikaans: aarde
Danish: verden
Finnish: maa
French: mondiale
German: Erde
Indonesian: dunia
Japanese: tsuchi, yochi, chi, a-su, daichi, koudo
Russian: çåìë
Swahili: kiwanja
Swedish: mull"
2006-08-25 11:06:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Earth is the English translation from Latin Terra (Terra fir ma). This is derived from Gaea the Greek name for mother earth
2006-08-25 13:29:55 · answer #3 · answered by shiara_blade 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
From the Middle English erthe, derived from the Old English eorthe,
2006-08-25 11:01:56 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
named after the god Gaia, greek goddess
2006-08-25 12:27:06 · answer #5 · answered by xiy 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It was named after JoJo the caveman realized he couldn't call it "ugh" because he'd already used that sound for his wifes cooking.
Doug
2006-08-25 11:06:54 · answer #6 · answered by doug_donaghue 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Earth has no name actually.Could it be terra(earth?)
2006-08-25 11:01:05 · answer #7 · answered by mamanoelia 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
a drunk guy who smoked too much weed...actually..i have no clue
don't eat dirt...it tastes like dirt
2006-08-25 10:58:50 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
MOVE THE H......H E A R T
2006-08-25 11:04:02 · answer #9 · answered by flowerspirit2000 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
My Aunt Eartha, she's so old her SSN# is 2!
...like the pts I just got, thanks! ;-)
2006-08-25 11:00:26 · answer #10 · answered by Di 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋