What Roman god was Earth named after?

Answer 1

Earth is not named after a person, real or mythical. Earth is the only planet not named after a Roman god. It is instead named after what we live on, earth (or soil). The name Earth comes from the Old Saxon word 'ertha', the dutch word 'aerde' and the German word 'erda'.

Answer 2

"Earth" (or in Latin, "Terra") is the word for "dirt". The ground is made of dirt and rocks, and that's what we stand on. So we stand on the earth in general, or on the Earth when we're talking about the whole planet.

Nobody ever actually NAMED this planet "Earth"; we don't need a specific name for something when there is only one of them. Until about 500 years ago, humans had no concept that our world is merely one among millions, or more probably TRILLIONS, of other planets. So the Moon was the only one until Galileo observed the moons of Jupiter, and the Sun was the only sun before we knew that all the stars in the sky are other suns like ours.

Answer 3

The Earth isn't named after a Roman God like all the other planets in our solar system. It is named after what we live on; the ground, or earth, or soil, depending on what you call it.

The Roman Goddess of Earth was called 'Terra Mater', which literally translates into 'Mother Earth'. The word 'Terra' is the root of the modern English word 'Terrain'.

The Earth as a word derives from Old English/Germanic, and it is related to the word 'Ertha' which is Saxon.

Answer 4

No:

Terra Mater (latin for Mother Earth) was a goddess personifying the Earth in Roman mythology. Which is where the English word 'terrain' comes from. However, 'Terra' is a French and Latin word, and so isn't part of the 'Earth' etymology.

The English word "Earth"is not derived form a Romano/Greek or Norse god, it has its roots in Old English/German and is related to the Old Saxon 'ertha,' the Dutch 'aerde,' and the German 'erda.'

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."

Answer 5

It wasn't. It was named for the land, or surface of the world.

In ancient times, under the geocentric model of Ptolemy, the Earth was not traditionally known to be "just another planet." Its Greek names (Ge/Gaia or khthon) and Latin name (Terra) both refer to "the ground." The Germanic root is erthe/ertha, similarly meaning land, soil.

Answer 6

The English word "Earth" is derived from the Germanic Earth-goddess Erda.

That's one answer that is sometimes given. There's also the strong possibility that it derives from words simply meaning "ground". In that case it's just named after the ground or earth we walk on.

Answer 7

No. Earth is named after the dirt that the planet is covered with. In many Science Fiction novels, the name "Terra" is often used; "terra" is the Latin word for "dirt".

--Actually, "terra" is Latin for earth, but it's also the name of a Primordial Goddess, named Terra Mater or Tellus (Mother Earth). In Greek it was Gaea (Gaia). Since this goddess was the personification of the Earth (meaning the ground beneath their feet), they named the ground beneath their feet "terra" or "gaia".

Later, when they needed to name the planet, it seemed only proper to name it "Earth" since that's what the ancients would have called it. Would it make you feel better to call it Sol 3?

Answer 8

In ancient times, under the geocentric model of Ptolemy, the Earth was not traditionally known to be "just another planet." It's Greek names (Ge/Gaia or chthon) and Latin name (Terra) both refer to "the ground." The Germanic root is erthe/ertha, similarly meaning land, soil.

Answer 9

Earth is not named after a person, real or mythical. Earth is the only planet not named after a Roman god. It is instead named after what we live on, earth (or soil).

Answer 10

Neptune is named after the Roman God of the sea (also known as Poseidon as a Greek god).