<\/div>\nSo why is Earth called \u2018Earth\u2019?<\/p>\n
In one sense, the answer\u2019s very simple \u2013\u00a0we stand on our planet, so it makes sense to refer to it by the same term as the actual ground that we\u2019re standing on, which of course is made of earth (as in soil).<\/p>\n
The word \u2018earth\u2019 itself derives from the Old English word \u2018eor\u00fee\u2019 (pronounced \u2018eorthe\u2019), which in turn derives from the Anglo-Saxon word \u2018ertha\u2019.<\/p>\n
This word has many cognates in other European languages that are related to English, such as \u2018Erde\u2019 in German or \u2018aarde\u2019 in Dutch \u2013 all of which have a similar dual meaning, in that they can refer to either the ground itself or, by extension, the planet that is made of it.<\/p>\n
However, \u2018Earth\u2019 in its many variants is not the only name our planet has ever had.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Romans would often talk about the \u2018mundus\u2019 <\/span>\u2013 which gave us, for instance, \u2018le monde\u2019 in French and \u2018el mundo\u2019 in Spanish \u2013 while the Greeks, precocious in their understanding that Earth is not flat, often used the word \u2018orbis\u2019.<\/p>\n Ancient Roman Statue of Atlas Supporting the World. Photo by David Lees\/Corbis\/VCG via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n\u2018Terra\u2019 is another name that has been widely used in the past \u2013 hence we talk about terrestrial and extra-terrestrial objects to this day.<\/p>\n
And as to why Earth has become the accepted term rather than \u2018terra\u2019, \u2018orbis\u2019 or some variant on \u2018mundus\u2019, well, that\u2019s a tougher question to answer.<\/p>\n
We certainly couldn\u2019t find any record of, say, a decree to that effect being issued by the Royal Society in 1683 or anything, so we\u2019ll have to assume it\u2019s just a matter of habit and convention.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
It’s our home planet. But have you ever wondered where Earth got its name from? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":42331,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/02\/why-is-earth-called-earth.jpg",1200,885,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/02\/why-is-earth-called-earth-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/02\/why-is-earth-called-earth-300x221.jpg",300,221,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/02\/why-is-earth-called-earth-768x566.jpg",768,566,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/02\/why-is-earth-called-earth-1024x755.jpg",800,590,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/02\/why-is-earth-called-earth.jpg",1200,885,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/02\/why-is-earth-called-earth.jpg",1200,885,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"It's our home planet. But have you ever wondered where Earth got its name from?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/42330"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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