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Bears or no bears? (thelemmy.club)
submitted 8 months ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] 149 points 8 months ago (11 children)

The word Arctic comes from the Greek word ἀρκτικός arktikos "near the Bear, northern" and from the word ἄρκτος arktos meaning "bear" for either to the constellation known as Ursa Major, the "Great Bear", which is prominent in the northern portion of the celestial sphere, or the constellation Ursa Minor, the "Little Bear", which contains the celestial north pole (currently very near Polaris, the current north Pole Star, or North Star).

The arctic isn't named after polar bears, but after the greek bear constellations which hold the north star. And the Antarctica is named after being the opposite of where the bear constellations are. It's just a coincidence that the correct one has bears and the correct one doesn't.

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  • [–] 27 points 8 months ago (9 children)

    It's still mind blowing, even if it is a coincidence.

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  • [–] 23 points 8 months ago (8 children)

    You’re going to name constellations after things that you know well, so the fact that there are a lot of bears relative to other megafauna in northern regions means that in a way the original idea still holds, just not quite as basic.

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  • [–] 6 points 8 months ago* (7 children)

    Some constellations, including the Great Bear, were named long before our languages even existed.

    Etymology wise we might say it comes from ancient Greek, but it's also called Great Bear in languages that have no origin in Greek.

    Wikipedia - Cosmic Hunt

    I'm going out on a limb here, but I believe the Great Bear is actually named after a great bear.

    Not all cultures though. In Brazil, the Big Dipper is also known as "large anus of the snake".

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    Essa eu não sabia. Isso vem de alguma língua indígena?

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago (1 child)
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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago (3 children)

    i don't think names in other languages is great evidence, because they could just have adopted the same name regardless, since they presumably adopted the greek constellations as well.

    Most cultures used to have their own almost entirely different constellations, the only stuff i think has some overlap is the really obvious simple ones like the southern cross.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (2 children)

    The thing is that native American didn't get the name from Greek, yet, it is still reference to a bear.

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