NationStates Jolt Archive

Anyone?

I did. :p

Og the Namer

It has old English, Germanic and Greek origins

Mr. Kenneth Earth.

Og the Namer

Lol.


What?

It has old English, Germanic and Greek origins

Yeah but...


Who named it???

Yeah but...


Who named it???

You mean who specifically? As in which individual?

You mean who specifically? As in which individual?

Or culture. Who did it? I mean how was it agreed that this is the earth. that we live on?

Or culture. Who did it? I mean how was it agreed that this is the earth. that we live on?

Specifically, the word Earth itself was simply a word that evolved out of other older words (through mispronunciation etc..). But are you talking about the original term it evolved out of?

Or culture. Who did it? I mean how was it agreed that this is the earth. that we live on?

Same as any other word. The word "Earth" evolved from older words as dialects and languages changed.

Origin:
bef. 950; ME erthe, OE eorthe; c. G Erde, D aarde, ON jǫrth, Dan jord, Goth airtha

...I miss my OED subscription :(

none the less, you'd have to go back way before any record of language...and really, probably before any "language" in the modern sense existed to find the real origin.

I imagine it to be "ugh".

Specifically, the word Earth itself was simply a word that evolved out of other older words (through mispronunciation etc..). But are you talking about the original term it evolved out of?

I'm wondering who decided that it is a fact that we live on "Earth".

I'm wondering who decided that it is a fact that we live on "Earth".

The same people who decided that the thing with four legs in your kitchen that you put food on and eat around is a "table". The sounds are an arbitrary symbol representing the actual object. The written word is another step removed.

probably some dead Latin speaking fellow.

Someone in a committee. They probably had a better name but they didn't want to waste time on democratic shit, so put all the names in a hat and the first one they pulled out would stick.

Someone in a committee. They probably had a better name but they didn't want to waste time on democratic shit, so put all the names in a hat and the first one they pulled out would stick.

No, they had it narrowed down to two options. In the end it was incredibly close, and "Earth" won out over "Slaptyback Fistybuns" by only two votes.

Anyone?

The name "Earth" was derived from the Anglo-Saxon word erda, which means ground or soil. It became eorthe in Old English, then erthe in Middle English.

http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/original/nbc_the_more_you_know.jpg

I named it.

/spam thread

The name "Earth" was derived from the Anglo-Saxon word erda, which means ground or soil. It became eorthe in Old English, then erthe in Middle English.

http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/original/nbc_the_more_you_know.jpg

Aye, but where did 'erda' come from? It's similar enough to Hebrew, for example, to argue that the word 'earth' has roots easily four or five thousand years deep.

I named it.

/spam thread

You named it 'end spam thread'? But 'earth' was shorter, so it caught on better?

:P

We should call it Terra. Sounds more futuristic.

Deep Thought

Aye, but where did 'erda' come from? It's similar enough to Hebrew, for example, to argue that the word 'earth' has roots easily four or five thousand years deep.

But did the Hebrew people apply it to the planet as a whole? Keep in mind that the word translates to "ground" or "soil". Then again, did they have any concept of a planet? Would referring to the ground and referring to the planet have any difference to them?

How did we figure out how this planet thing worked anyway? I really don't think Columbus showed everyone the the light on that subject.

Earth was named after the person who discovered it! Duh! Captain Earth a 18th century space explorer who just happened to be Captain George Vancouver's god nephews brothers hairdresser. He and his wife Mother Earth, a sadomasochistic laundress had a son named Captain Planet ...he's our hero, Gonna take pollution down to zero ...

But did the Hebrew people apply it to the planet as a whole? Keep in mind that the word translates to "ground" or "soil". Then again, did they have any concept of a planet? Would referring to the ground and referring to the planet have any difference to them?

How did we figure out how this planet thing worked anyway? I really don't think Columbus showed everyone the the light on that subject.

If you look at traditional world models, the infinite and the finite are actually somewhat interchangable - the 'earth' below my feet may appear to be a finite clause, but it is equally the 'earth' under YOUR feet.

The question isn't really about when the planet became 'earth' - it's about when it became 'Earth'. (Which, I would imagine, would coincide roughly with the realisation that stars aren't holes punched in the sky, and the moon isn't a silver coin tacked to the heavens).

Earth was named after the person who discovered it! Duh! Captain Earth a 18th century space explorer who just happened to be Captain George Vancouver's god nephews brothers hairdresser. He and his wife Mother Earth, a sadomasochistic laundress had a son named Captain Planet ...he's our hero, Gonna take pollution down to zero ...

/win

Anyone?

What I would like to know is why they didn't name Earth after a Roman God or Goddess?

I much prefer calling it Terra.

And the moon as Luna, and our sun as Sol.

What I would like to know is why they didn't name Earth after a Roman God or Goddess?

I dare say it would have been because we have named our planet well before we started naming those planets.

They were aware (I think) that some of those stars were actually planets many years ago but named it after other names as they weren't God's but rather planets.

It only came about later after the Roman God's had died out and as our astronomers renamed and found new planets started calling them by the names of Roman Gods.

All or none of this may be true or not, it is just a reasonable explanation but with no evidence to back it up.

If someone can answer this question properly I would be more than grateful.

What I would like to know is why they didn't name Earth after a Roman God or Goddess?

They weren't aware the Earth was a planet or 'star' when they named it.

I much prefer calling it Terra.

And the moon as Luna, and our sun as Sol.

^This

We had a meeting, we we're gonna invite you but...well, you smell.

Aye, but where did 'erda' come from? It's similar enough to Hebrew, for example, to argue that the word 'earth' has roots easily four or five thousand years deep.Yes. The Indo-European root in "earth" and the Semitic root in aretz are cognates. "Four or five thousand years" is a little too shallow even to get back to the Proto-Indo-European; tracing back to the common ancestor of Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Semitic would take us well back of ten thousand years ago.

I named it.

/spam thread

So when you don't have a good answer, the thread is a spam thread?

If you look at traditional world models, the infinite and the finite are actually somewhat interchangable - the 'earth' below my feet may appear to be a finite clause, but it is equally the 'earth' under YOUR feet.

The question isn't really about when the planet became 'earth' - it's about when it became 'Earth'. (Which, I would imagine, would coincide roughly with the realisation that stars aren't holes punched in the sky, and the moon isn't a silver coin tacked to the heavens).

Exactly. How was it decided that the name of our planet is Earth?

Exactly. How was it decided that the name of our planet is Earth?

I'm still not sure what you're getting at, if not the word origin... :confused:

Nobody is sure what OP is getting at because the question inherently doesn't make sense. No one person decides the direction of language or meaning, it evolves through years of use and misuse. I don't know what kind of bizarre thought process honestly thinks that we can point a finger to some specific person for the origin of every name, the name simply evolved from use.

Furthermore, the planet we live on is not named "Earth" anymore than it is named "Erde", "Tierra", "地球" or "Jorden". There is no answer to OP's question because it's a bad question. The closest thing to an "answer"

It call it Dunia?

The question is, who, if anybody, decided that the word "earth" should be the formal name of our planet, "Earth" with a capital-E? Just as someone specifically decreed that Pluto should be officially called Pluto after the god, was there anyone who decreed that Earth should be officially called Earth with a capital-E, after the traditional word for soil, ground, firmament, world- "earth"?

I think the more important question is: What does earth call itself? We don't want to diss the planet by calling it the wrong name all the time. It might get upset.

i'm not sure anyone did. terra or tera, have been arround a long time too, with parallel development. and i'm pretty sure earth just comes from, you know, that stuff beneath your feat that you walk on, so that's just what people called what they were standing on, long before there was a concept, or the slightest inkling, that there was such a thing as a planet or even the concept of where they happened to be having a discrete identitiy as opposed to be contiguous with all of existence.

this may be part of why organized beliefs, other then the most recent, baha'i, which is post islam even, fail to acknowledge or really mention or consider in any sense that we now know, the unimaginably vast universe beyond our own worlds narrow shores.

Wikipedia sez 1400 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_in_culture#Etymology). Presumably in England or another Middle-English speaking country.

To: O.P.
Poor, poor Nerthus, how we have forgotten her... I believe the name came about the same way we got Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Oh, those Damnable Romans and their misspelled name deeming. I wouldn't have mind calling our planet "Tellus," but I like Blue Marble as well.

Also, I believe the "scientific" name for the Earth is: Terra Firma

... If you're going to quote Wiki make sure you give a back up citation.

I named the earth end of debate.

I much prefer calling it Terra.

And the moon as Luna, and our sun as Sol.

I agree with this sentiment, being that there are multiple "suns", "moons, and there is "earth" on other worlds as well...

Terra, Luna, and Sol are more proper and distinguish from the others...

I named the earth end of debate.

lol, We live on "end of debate" now

lol, We live on "end of debate" now

kneel MoFO

Wikipedia sez 1400 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_in_culture#Etymology). Presumably in England or another Middle-English speaking country.

Aha. That leads to:

earth Look up earth at Dictionary.com
O.E. eorðe "ground, soil, dry land," also used (along with middangeard) for "the (material) world" (as opposed to the heavens or the underworld), from P.Gmc. *ertho (cf. O.N. jörð, M.Du. eerde, O.H.G. erda, Goth. airþa), from PIE base *er-. The earth considered as a planet was so called from c.1400. Earthy in the fig. sense of "coarse, unrefined" is from 1594. Earthworm first attested 1591. Earthwork is from 1633. Earthlight apparently coined 1833 by British astronomer John Herschel.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=earth

So, OP, are you indeed asking which astronomer first applied the term Earth to the planet?

I'm a little suspicious of that entry w/ out more details, so I've posted what's hopefully the clearer version on a forum elsewhere that's more used to dealing with these sorts of questions. :)

Aha. That leads to:


http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=earth

So, OP, are you indeed asking which astronomer first applied the term Earth to the planet?

I'm a little suspicious of that entry w/ out more details, so I've posted what's hopefully the clearer version on a forum elsewhere that's more used to dealing with these sorts of questions. :)

Yes, because of this:

First god made heaven & earth

Ok so he made the ground earth.

God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

The only capitalization of the word Earth.

So does that mean god named the planet? Is it an accepted fact that the name of our planet is Earth because of the bible and Christianity?

I named the earth end of debate.

What kind of name is "end of debate" for a planet?

So does that mean god named the planet? Is it an accepted fact that the name of our planet is Earth because of the bible and Christianity?

I would say that is due to the translation rather then because the Bible said so.

I know this one.

The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

i dont understand the question but you may be interested in the book "Why Geography Matters" by Harm de Blij

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Geography-Matters-Challenges-Terrorism/dp/0195183010

it has a very interesting section on the politics of place names.

plus other enlightening discussions on the importance of geography.

Yes, because of this:



Ok so he made the ground earth.



The only capitalization of the word Earth.

So does that mean god named the planet? Is it an accepted fact that the name of our planet is Earth because of the bible and Christianity?

Kind of odd huh because the rest are Roman gods. Strange they would not have named this one as well. It is good to get here first.

What kind of name is "end of debate" for a planet?

the same as naming a religion do as your told.

Yes, because of this:



Ok so he made the ground earth.



The only capitalization of the word Earth.

So does that mean god named the planet? Is it an accepted fact that the name of our planet is Earth because of the bible and Christianity?
Capitalizations are translated into Biblical texts, as hebrew has only one case, rather than English's upper and lower cases.

the same as naming a religion do as your told.

I lol'd pretty hard.:)

Capitalizations are translated into Biblical texts, as hebrew has only one case, rather than English's upper and lower cases.

Thanks, didn't know that.

Ok, so god didn't name the Earth, but do you think we can safely assume that it's accepted that the name of the planet is Earth because of the spread of Christianity and the amount of people that have read the bible throughout the years?

Exactly. How was it decided that the name of our planet is Earth?

It wasn't 'decided'.

What is below us is earth. Once we realised that there really were other balls bobbing around out there, the convenience of 'earth' being our common link becomes a proper noun.

Yes. The Indo-European root in "earth" and the Semitic root in aretz are cognates. "Four or five thousand years" is a little too shallow even to get back to the Proto-Indo-European; tracing back to the common ancestor of Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Semitic would take us well back of ten thousand years ago.

Aye, hence 'roots easily four or five thousand years deep'. It all starts getting a bit hazy and conjectural once you find yourself in 'proto' territory.

Ok, so god didn't name the Earth, but do you think we can safely assume that it's accepted that the name of the planet is Earth because of the spread of Christianity and the amount of people that have read the bible throughout the years?

No. Earth is an English word. Terra (and close variations) appear in Romance languages, Erde and similar in the Germanic languages (including English), Jorden and similar in the Scandanavian languages, Zemlja in Eastern Europe, Fenua in polynesian, etc.

Earth is not the only word for this planet. The roots of "Earth" go back long before Christianity even existed. It spanws from the Anglo-saxon "Erda" (via "eorthe" in Old English and "erthe" in Middle English), meaning "dirt" or "ground" or "soil". The meaning simply expanded from there..."we call this stuff under our feet earth. We live upon the earth. Therefore, our planet (made up from earth) must be Earth."