# Foreign-language names for our planet **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 16, 1999, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547 "1999-06-16T18:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 1999, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/1 "1999-06-16T18:36:00Z")
The original question was: Do non-English speaking countries call the Earth “Earth”? --Ranchoth Then SDStaff Jill went on to list the words used in reference to our planet, at great length, with no other explanation. I don’t know if this is what Ranchoth meant or not, but I sure want to know whether all those other words for our planet mean, as the English one does, effectively ‘dirt’ or ‘land.’ Any takers? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 1999, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/2 "1999-06-17T03:42:00Z")
I think the great Internet translator screwed up the French by giving “mondiale” - that is the adjective for “monde’ usually translated as 'world.” My Larousse identifies “Terre” as the name of the “planet of the solar system inhabited by man (with a capital letter in this sense).” [My translation.] The Larousse definition also goes on to say that “terre” means “land,” for example “cultivated land” or “foreign land,” and also refers to “terres rares,” which I believe are the elements referred to in English as “rare earths.” So yes, in French the word for “Earth” does carry the alternative meaning of “earth.” Don’t know much about the Germanic languages listed, but “Erde” (German) and "aarde’ (Afrikaaners) look like cognates to “earth” to me. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 1999, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/3 "1999-06-17T08:54:00Z")
As for German: bull’s eye! Holger ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 1999, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/4 "1999-06-18T00:02:00Z")
i think we should name it in british “that big floating bluish-green thingy in space”. sounds good to me, how about everyone else? * * * “there can be only one” - me ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 1999, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/5 "1999-06-18T00:04:00Z")
I think, maybe this k\_daddy guy should re-read the question posted. I don’t think the British refer to the Earth as, “that big floating bluish-green thingy in space!” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 1999, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/6 "1999-06-18T00:28:00Z")
i believe the martians refer to it as “that big floating bluish-green sphere thingy”. glad i could clear that question up. 🙂 * * * “there can be only one” - me ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 1999, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/7 "1999-06-18T14:46:00Z")
Actually, the Martians refer to it as the “blue-green planet with a grey companion”. The Moon is visible to the naked eye from Mars. * * * John W. Kennedy “Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.” – Charles Williams ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 1999, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/8 "1999-06-18T15:40:00Z")
I’m trying to recall a Harry Harrison novel of the far future where some members of the human race speak reverently of the long lost mythical home planet of the species. A planet called “Dirt”! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 1999, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/9 "1999-06-19T05:18:00Z")
funny FYI - in Norwegian (Bokmal,) the Earth is either “Jorden” (Earth) or “Jordkloden” (Earth-clod). Talk about dirty words! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2000, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/10 "2000-01-04T21:57:00Z")
In the Life Science volume _The World We Livie In,_ one chapter begins by saying that if a visitor were to come from outer space, “he might name our planet Sea rather than Earth.” After all, the land occupies 57 million square miles of Eath’s surface–and water the other 139 million. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/11 "2000-01-18T17:05:00Z")
jti said: * * * Don’t know much about the Germanic languages listed, but “Erde” (German) and “aarde” (Afrikaaners) look like cognates to “earth” to me. * * * ## “Aarde” is of course the Dutch word for earth, hence it also is the Afrikaans word - Afrikaans is based on Middle Dutch. And yes, “aarde” also means dirt, as does “Erde”. Coldfire * * * “You know how complex women are” - Neil Peart, Rush (1993) ---
**Author:** ![RobRoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ba0ec/32.png) [@RobRoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobRoy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/12 "2000-01-19T01:00:00Z")
The Latin (mundus), French (monde) and Spanish (mundo) do not carry the connotation of “dirt”. “Land” or “dirt” are derived from the word “terra” and a few others. Perhaps because the Romans had the conception of the planet (educated ones assumed it was a sphere) as something more than the “land” or “dirt” beneath their feet. I guess another fact pointing towards the pathetic moss hut dwelling state of our northern European ancestors (at that time). ---
**Author:** ![CWSurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@CWSurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CWSurvive)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/13 "2000-01-25T03:53:00Z")
Hi. In Greek the word for “planet earth” is Gi (pronounced Yee, spelled Gamma Ita). It its the origin of words like geography, geology, geographic, etc. even for the name George whose originally means farmer. So as far as the Greek language and general Greek sensibility and perception is concerned, yes, “gi” means land/earth just like we use it. They have a differnet word for soil (homa) and for dirt (filth) (vroma). But obviously so do we. ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/14 "2000-01-25T11:56:00Z")
From my Tagalog dictionary: Mundó, múndo - World (borrowed from Spanish) Daigdíg - world lupá - earth, soil, land, country Sangkalupaán - not quite sure what the exact translation is, but it is used for world (jorge?) In my Japanese dictionary, it is chikyu, and the characters that form it is the character for ground, earth (chi), and the word for ball (kyu). Literally, earth/soil ball. * * * It’s worth the risk of burning, to have a second chance… ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2000, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/15 "2000-01-26T02:01:00Z")
In Spanish, the name of the planet is “planeta TIERRA” tierra = soil, land, ground Thus again, the planet is called “Earth” in the sense of the stuff beneath our feet on which grass grows. “El mundo” is “the world”; interestingly, in mapmaking we also refer to a “world map” (“mapamundi”) rather than an earth map. OTOH we do say “Globo Terráqueo” = Earth Globe (always with the modifier; plain “globo” can be anything that shape and is usually a balloon) ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2000, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/16 "2000-01-27T00:22:00Z")
(Sigh.) “Mundus” and its children mean “world”. Gee. “World”. An Anglo-Saxon world that doesn’t mean “dirt”. Educated Romans knew the Earth was round because educated Greeks discovered it. THINK, people. The issue isn’t whether people knew the Earth is round, or that it is very small compared to the universe (educated people also know that). The issue is the realization that the Earth is just one of many planets, and not the center of the universe. Until then, up is “sky”, down is “dirt”, and “world” means “universe”. * * * John W. Kennedy “Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.” – Charles Williams ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/17 "2000-02-08T23:15:00Z")
Scandinavian (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic)= _jord_ Slavic= _zemlia_ Greek= _ge_ Latin= _terra_ Hebrew (not Indo-European)= _'erets_ ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/18 "2000-02-09T00:41:00Z")
I remember being confused as a child, 'cos all the other planets were named from Roman myth, and “Earth” was an incongruous Anglo-Saxon name; what god was that? Now I get it, but imagine what it’ll be lke for future generations living on Mars; “Mars” will just be the planet’s name! I think we should start insisting on the Greek “Gaea” (or “Gi”) as standard. Or “chthon” which means earth (as in substance?) in Greek. Anyway, isn’t it interesting that pre-Roman names for the 5 lesser “planets” (other than “sun” & “moon” which were also “planets” to the ancients) haven’t survived in our tongue? ---
**Author:** ![Kyberneticist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kyberneticist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyberneticist)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-names-for-our-planet/1547/19 "2000-02-09T20:20:00Z")
John W. Kennedy > [@](#): > > “Mundus” and its children mean “world”. > > Gee. “World”. An Anglo-Saxon world that doesn’t mean “dirt”. Yeah, it means “age”. 🙂 (really! original definition!) Its varying connotations make it not quite applicable as a word for the earth.