Meanings of the names behind mum’s nine pies
I KNOW that most of the planets in the solar system are named after mytholgical figures – Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and so on.
But what about Uranus? And Earth, for that matter – what are they named after? – C.
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies.
That’s the mnemonic I use to remember the planets in the order they orbit the sun – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. (I realise that Pluto is no longer deemed to be a planet, but it doesn’t make sense otherwise).
As you say, most of the planets take their names from mythology.
Roman gods feature prominently, as Mercury was their god of travellers, Venus was the goddess of love, Mars the god of war, Jupiter king of the gods, Saturn was god of agriculture, Neptune god of the sea and Pluto god of the underworld.
Uranus is named after the Greek god of the sky.
The name for our home planet, Earth, probably dates back 1500 years.
The word “Earth” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘erda’ and it’s Germanic equivalent “erde” which means ground or soil. In Old English, the word became “ertha” and eventually Earth. Astronomers have now discovered thousands of exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars) but the go by rather dull scientific names such as 14 Andromedae b or HD 81688 b.