What on Earth (or Neptune)?

Or not on Earth as the case may be. I was looking at the names of our planet in languages other than English. It came as something of a disappointment to discover they were mostly translations of 'earth' in the sense of 'soil, dirt'.

So I decided to look elsewhere in the heavens and see what names other languages had given to the remaining seven planets in orbit around our sun. Below is the language, its name and, where possible, the translation. Many nations simply use the same name, albeit with the phonetic spelling reflecting local pronunciation. As these clearly come from the same source as the English names, I have concentrated on the alternatives and finally the planet Neptune

As this is one of the planets discovered in the age of astronomy and thus unknown to the ancients (it is not visible to the naked eye), many languages simply use the name 'Neptune' - these have been omitted.

Greek - Poseidon - the Greek personification of Neptune, the god of the sea.

Korean - Haewangseong - 'Star of the king of the sea'.

Mandarin Chinese - 'the ocean-king planet' and borrowed from Japanese.

Mongolia - dailain van - the same meaning and origin as Mandarin Chinese.

Note the spellings and characters used are English, so don't write to me pointing missing umlauts, accents, etc. or how I should have used a different alphabet.

What on Earth (or Uranus)?

Or not on Earth as the case may be. I was looking at the names of our planet in languages other than English. It came as something of a disappointment to discover they were mostly translations of 'earth' in the sense of 'soil, dirt'.

I decided to look elsewhere in the heavens and see what names other languages had given to the remaining seven planets in orbit around our sun. Below is the language, its name and, where possible, the translation. Many nations simply use the same name, albeit with the phonetic spelling reflecting local pronunciation. As these clearly come from the same source as the English names, I have concentrated on the alternatives and this time the planet Uranus.

As this is one of the planets discovered in the age of astronomy and thus unknown to the ancients (it is not visible to the naked eye), many languages simply use the name 'Uranus' - these have been omitted.

Korean - Cheonwangseong - 'Star of the king of heaven'.

Mandarin Chinese - 'the heavenly king planet'

Mongolia - Tengerijn van - in Hungarian this means 'there is a sea', which is a little confusing as it is Neptune who is the Roman god of the sea.

Note the spellings and characters used are English, so don't write to me pointing to missing umlauts, accents, etc. or how I should have used a different alphabet.

What on Earth (or Jupiter)?

Or not on Earth as the case may be. I was looking at the names of our planet in languages other than English. It came as something of a disappointment to discover they were mostly translations of 'earth' in the sense of 'soil, dirt'.

So I decided to look elsewhere in the heavens and see what names other languages had given to the remaining seven planets in orbit around our sun. Below is the language, its name and, where possible, the translation. Many nations simply use the same name, albeit with the phonetic spelling reflecting local pronunciation. As these clearly come from the same source as the English names, I have concentrated on the alternatives and this time the planet Jupiter

JUPITER

Bengali - Vrihaspati - is from Sanskrit (see below)

Greek - Zeus - originally Dyeus and from a root meaning 'sky, shine'.

Hebrew - tsedek - 'justice'

Italy - Giove - or Jove, exactly the same root as the Greek Zeus and comes from 'sky, shine'.

Japan - Brihaspati - is from Hindu mythology (see below)

Kazakhstan - Yesekqyrghan

Korean - Mokseong - 'star of wood'.

Malayalam - Vyaazham - is associated with Thursday

Mandarin Chinese - 'the wood planet'

Mongolia - Barhasbadi - again comes from Sanskrit (see below)

Old Czech - Kralomoc - means 'king power'.

Sanskrit - Brhaspati - is a Vedic sage who cousels the gods in ancient Hindu literature.

Sumerian - Anu Marduk - Also known as 'Bel' he is the main Sumerian god, god of the air and the earth.

Note the spellings and characters used are English, so don't write to me pointing missing umlauts, accents, etc. or how I should have used a different alphabet.

Stars

After looking at the constellations last time, the research kept brinign me names of some of the best known stars in the night sky. Mythology plays a large role.


Achenar - found in the constellation of Eridamus, this is an Anglicised version of the original Arabic name of akhir an-nahr or 'river's end', while the Chinese know it as Shui Wei 'crooked running water'. It is actually a binary system, lies 139 light-years away, and is the tenth brightest star in the sky when viewed from Earth.


Altair - found in the constellation of Aquila, the Arabic name of an-nasr at-ta'ir means 'the flying eagle' while the Chinese Qian Niu Xing describes it as 'the cow herder star'. One of the closest stars visible to the naked eye at just 16.7 light-years distant, it rotates in a little under nine hours (compared to our sun's 25 days) giving it a flattened appearance, indeed the diameter at the equator is 20% greater than the diameter when measured through the poles.


Aldeberan - in the constellation of Taurus the Arabic al-dabaran means 'the follower', in relation to the Pleiades, in Indian astronomy it's Rohini 'the red one', while the Chinese describe it as Bixiuwu 'the fifth star of the net'. Ranked as the fourteenth brightest star when viewed from Earth, it is 65 light-years away, and may have a planet orbiting every 643 days and around eleven times the mass of Jupiter.


Antares - part of the constellation of Scorpius, this comes from Ancient Greek for 'against Ares', he the Greek version of the Roman god Mars. Babylonians knew it as 'the breast of the scorpion', in Arabic 'the heart of the scorpion', and other ancient cultures gave it names meaning 'the lord of the seed', 'the creator of prosperity', 'the king', 'the hero and the king', 'the vermilion star' and, to the Chinese xin suer 'second brightest'. It ranks as the fifteenth brightest star in the night sky, is 550 light-years from Earth, and has a diameter 1,766 times that of our sun.


Arcturus - is the brightest star in the constellation Bootes. It is 36.7 light-years from our sun and more than 25 times the size. This is its Greek name, this meaning 'the guardian of the bear', the Arabic name of al-simak meant 'the uplifted one', while Indian astronomers refer to it as Swati 'the horned one', the Japanese catalogue gives Mugi-boshi 'star of wheat', and in China Dajiao 'great horn'.


Betelgeuse - in the constellation of Orion this star is modern astronomers best bet to go supernova, it could happen at any time in the next million years apparently. A red supergiant it is one of the largest and brightest stars visible to the naked eye and has a distinctly red appearance. Its name comes from Arabic Ibt al-Jauza 'the axilla of Orion', with other names including Persian Basn 'the arm', Coptic Klaria 'an armlet', Tahitian Ana-varu 'the pillar to sit by', the Lacandon people of Central America knew it as chak tulix 'red butterfly', and the best of the all from the Chinese Shenxiusi 'the fourth star of the constellation of three stars'.


Canopus - named after a pilot of Greek mythology, the navigator fopr Memelaus, king of Sparta whose name is of uncertain etymology. It is the second brightest star in the night sky, approximately 320 light-years away, and in 480,000 years will become the brightest. Egptian Coptic knows this as Kahi Nub 'the golden earth', in Japan it is Roujin-sei 'the old man star', which is not as good as the name by which those on the Society Islands know this where Taura-e-tupu--tai-nanu means 'festivity whence comes the flux of the sea'.


Capella - is 24 times the diameter of our sun and 43 light-years distant. Its name is the Latin for 'small female goat', in Arabic it is Al-RakibJastreb
'the hawk', Chines Wu che 'five chariots', Hawaii Ke ka o Makali'i 'the canoe bailer of Makali'i', and to the Australian Boorang people Purra 'the kangaroo'.

Centaurus - some 390 light-years from us, it derives its name from the mythological centaur and a name first applied to a savage tribe of horsemen from Thessaly. Other names include the Arabic Agena 'knees', Chinese ma fu yi 'first star of the horse's abdomen', while the Boorang people of Australia know it as Tchingal 'the emu'.


Deneb - the 19th brightest star in the sky and 800 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. Its name simply means 'tail', although others know it differently. In Germany Uropygium 'the parson's nose', and to the Chines Tian Jin Si 'the fourth star of the celestial ford'. Around the year 9800 Deneb will become the new pole star as viewed from Earth.


Fomalhaut - a part of the constellation of Pisces, some 25 light-years from us, and the third brightest star in our skies. This name is from the Arabic fum al-hawt or 'mouth of the fish', although the Persians knew it as Haftorang Watcher of the south, to the Chinese it is Beiluoshimen 'north gate of the military camp', and to the Wardaman people of Australia's northern territory Menggen 'the white cockatoo'.


Polaris - at a distance of 433 light-years, this is the Latin for 'pole star' and known to the Saxons as scip-steorra 'the ship star', both named for this aid to navigation. To the Hindus it was Puranas 'immovable, fixed'; to the Greeks Cynosura 'the dog's tail'; and in Arabic al-katb al-shamaliyy 'the northern axle'.


Pollux - in the constellation of Gemini this is, with Castor, one of those heavenly twins. Some 34 light-years from Earth, this is the closest star to the sun to be classified as a giant. In Arabic it is Muekher al Dzira 'the end in the paw' and to the Chines Bei He 'the north river'.


Procyon - is from the Greek meaning 'preceding the dog', a reference to Sirius. It is the eighth brightest star in the night sky, although correctly it is actually three stars, and a distance of about 12 light-years from us. To the Babylonians this was Nangar 'the carpenter'; Arabic as-si'ra as-samiyah 'the Syrian sign' or al-ghumaisa 'the bleary-eyed woman'; and to the Chinese nanhesan 'third star in the south of the river'.


Rigel - the seventh brightest star visible from Earth is 863 light-years away and part of the constellation of Orion. The Arabic version was Rijl Jauzah al Yusra or 'the left leg of Jauzah', the personal name their interpretation of the figure known as Orion the Hunter; the Wardaman people of Australia call it Unumburrgu 'the red kangaroo leader'; the Watjobaluk people of Australia call it Yerrerdet-kurrk 'mother-in-law'; the Chinese know it as Shenxiu Qi 'the seventh star of the three star system'; and the Japanese Gin-waki 'the silver star'.


Sirius - the brightest star in the sky, also known as the Dog Star, it is a little over 8 light-years distant and part of the constellation of Canis Major. To the Greeks it was Seirios 'the scorcher'; Sanskrit Mrgavadha 'deer hunter'; to the Norsemen it was Lokabrenna 'burning done by Loki'; and the tribes of North American knew it as 'wolf star', 'coyote star' and .moon dog'.


Spica - the 16th brightest star in the sky, 250 light-years from Earth, and found in the constellation Virgo. Its name comes from Latin spica virginis 'the virgin's ear of grain'; alternatives include Arabic al-simak al-a'z'ai 'the undefended'; and in Indian astronomy Chitra 'the bright one'.


Vega - the fifth brightest star in the sky is 25 light-years away in the constellation of Lyra. Some 14,000 years ago it was the pole star and, if you can hang around a bit, will reclaim that position in the year 13,727. Its name is Arabic, from an-nasr al-waqi or 'the alighting vulture'; while the Chinese know it as Zhi Nu or 'weaving girl' in the Qi Xi love story; the Assyrians called it Dayan-sane 'the judge of heaven'; the Babylonians Dilgan 'messenger of light'; in Zoroastrianism it is Vanat 'the conquor'; and to the Boorong people of Australia Neilloan 'the flying loan'.


Spellings used are English as it is written in English.

Constellations

Overheard a conversation about horoscopes the other day. In truth I only listened in the first place as I thought the topic had been astronomy.

With the conversation fading away, I began thinking of constellations and wondered where they got their names. Now while we only have twelve signs of the zodiac - Monty Python fans will argue there are thirteen, remember Derry and Toms? – but there are many more constellations and thus we shall take a look at where these names came from.

Andromeda – from the Greek it means ‘mindful of her husband’.
Aquarius – is Latin for ‘water carrier’.
Aquila – is the Latin word for ‘eagle’.
Ara – is Latin for ‘the altar’.
Aries – is the Latin for ‘ram’ and related to arietare ‘to butt’.
Auriga – another Latin term meaning ‘a charioteer’.
Bootes – is from the Greek meaning ‘herdsman’ or ‘ploughman’, but literally translating as ‘ox-driver’.
Camelopardalis – the Greek word for the ‘giraffe’, and derived from the name of the ‘camel’ and the ‘leopard’ as it has a long neck, like the camel, and spots, like the leopard.
Cancer – from the Greek karkinos which, like the modern word, has three meanings in ‘crab’ and ‘tumour’ as well as the name of the constellation. Clearly all three share a root, this being Proto-Indo-European qarq ‘to be hard’.
Canis Vernatici – the Latin for ‘hunting dogs’.
Capricornus – Latin again for ‘having horns like a goat’.
Cetus – Greek for ‘the whale’.
Chameleon – Greek for ‘lion on the ground’.
Columba – is the Latin for ‘dove’.
Coma Berenices – or ‘Berenice’s hair’, the Egptian queen’s name meaning ‘bringer of victory’.
Corvus – is the Latin word for ‘raven’.
Crater – in this context it is the Latin word for ‘cup;.
Cruz – features the Spanish word for ‘cross’.
Cygnus – is the Greek word for ‘swan’.
Delphinus – the Greek for ‘dolphin’.
Dorado – is Portuguese for ‘dolphinfish’.
Draco – the Latin word for ‘dragon’.
Equuleus – the Latin for ‘little horse’.
Fornax – is the Latin for ‘furnace’.
Gemini – is Latin for ‘twins’.
Grus – is Latin for ‘crane’.
Hercules – means ‘glory of Hera’, the name ‘Hera’ meaning ‘fame’.
Hydra – from the Greek for ‘water’.
Hydrus – is the Greek for ‘water serpent’.
Indus – is the Sanskrit word for ‘river’.
Lacerta – is the Latin word for ‘lizard’.
Leo – the Latin word for ‘lion’.
Leo Minor – and Latin for ‘small lion’.
Lepus – the Latin for ‘hare’.
Libra – Latin for ‘balance’ or ‘pair of scales’.
Lupus – is the Latin for ‘wolf’.
Lynx – is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European leuk ‘light’.
Lyra – the Latin for ‘lyre’.
Monoceros – the Greek word for ‘unicorn’.
Musca – the Latin for ‘fly’.
Octans – is from the name of the navigational instrument named from the Latin for ‘eighth part of a circle’.
Opiuchus – this means ‘the serpent-bearer’.
Orion – some sources suggest Akkadian for ‘the light of heaven’.
Pavo – features the Latin word for ‘peacock’.
Pegasus – thought to come from the Greek for ‘spring, well’ from whence Pegasus was born.
Perseus – some sources suggest a Pre-Greek origin meaning ‘waste, sack, destroy’.
Phoenix – perhaps originally referring to ‘Phoenician’ or ‘purple-red’.
Pictor – Latin for ‘painter’.
Pisces – is the Latin plural for ‘fish’.
Polaris – Latin for ‘the pole star’.
Puppis – literally ‘the poop deck’, as in the part of the ship.
Pyxis – is Latin for a ‘small medicinal box’.
Sagitta – the Latin word for ‘arrow’.
Sagittarius – is Latin for ‘archer’.
Scorpio – simply the Latin for ‘scorpion’.
Sculpta – is Latin for ‘sculptor’.
Serpens – is Greek for ‘the serpent’.
Sextans – is named for the astronomical sextant, its name meaning ‘one sixth part’.
Taurus – is Latin for ‘bull, bullock’.
Triangulum – is Latin for ‘triangle’.
Tucana – refers to the ‘toucan’ and comes from a Tupi word, they indigenous to the region now part of modern Brazil, tukana which is probably imitative of its call.
Ursa Major – as many will know this is also known as the Great Bear, although strictly the translation from Latin should be ‘the great she-bear’.
Ursa Minor – unsurprisingly this is Latin for ‘the lesser she-bear’.
Vela – named from the Latin for ‘sails’.
Virgo – is Latin for ‘the virgin’, a word which probably began referring to a plant or crop which had yet to produce seed in something akin to ‘young shoot’.
Volans – was originally known as Piscis Volans or ‘flying fish’.

Incidentally if you want to know the origin of Derry and Toms, they were a London department store who went out of business in 1971 and were named after founders Charles Derry and Joseph Toms.

For those wondering what happened to some of the omissions, those have never been understood and, etymologically speaking, are simply proper names.