Europe/Asia/Africa

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Supposedly the Greeks came up with these names.

Anyone know what they mean?

Europe was probably named after Europa, but why?

I seem to recall the root "Asia" means "East," but I could be imagining it.

I have not seen any source for "Africa."

[Beruang]

I have heard that "Africa" comes from the Greek meaning "not cold."

I saw a PBS show which claimed "Asia" meant "that land over there." But it was hosted by Michael Wood, so I'm dubious.

I too have wondered why Europa rates a continent.

And any minute now, someone will find the link to Cecil's column...

[neuro-trash grrrl]

Asia and Africa were the names of Roman provinces in modern Turkey and Libya, respectively. "Libya" was what the greeks called Africa, the continent. I don't know what they called Europe and Asia.

And yes, Cecil did cover this. I believe that it's in his first book.

[TheNerd]

Not that I've seriously looked into this, but I though "Africa" was derived from the arabic "Ifriquya".

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Neuro:

Read the OP very carefully. The questions I axed were not addressed in Cecil's series. He did address Europe/Asia/continent/region questions--but not mineses (pronounced "mine-zizz," Southern for "mine").

[Alphagene]

EB to the rescue:

In antiquity, the Greeks are said to have called the continent Libya and the Romans to have called it Africa, perhaps from the Latin aprica ("sunny") or the Greek aphrike ("without cold")

The name Asia is ancient, and its origin has been variously explained. ... It is ... believe[d] that the name may be derived from the Assyrian word asu, meaning "east." Another possible explanation is that it was originally a local name given to the plains of Ephesus and gradually extended to include Anatolia and the rest of the continent.

Still working on Europe...

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"The world ends when I die. And as far as I'm concerned, the rest of the universe might as well call it a day too." -- Matt Groening