How the oceans got their names
海洋的名字都是怎麼來的？
大家可以選擇一邊聽小編的朗讀，一邊閱讀文章內容：
Let’s take a look at the linguistic roots of the world’s five oceans. Before we start, what of ocean itself? The word comes to English via Latin from the Greek ōkeanos, which meant ‘great stream encircling the earth’s disc’. The word ocean originally denoted the whole body of water which the ancient Greeks believed to encompass the earth’s single land mass; ocean was used to contrast with known inland seas, such as the Mediterranean.
且不說地球到底有幾大洋（國內教材一般都說是四大洋，但在國內引進的不少科普書裡，都說有五大洋，本文提到的最後那個就是第五大洋），我們先來看看“洋”在英語裡的對應單詞ocean。這個詞源自希臘語單詞ōkeanos，意思是環繞地球大陸的水域，但在地理意義上講，sea才是與大陸相鄰的水域，而ocean應該是指在sea之外的水域。
好了，接下去我們就來一探究竟，到底世界五大洋的名字都是怎麼來的吧。
the Indian Ocean
印度洋
Let’s mention this one first, as (linguistically) it’s the least interesting ocean: it is named simply because it is to the south of India.
要說為什麼印度洋放在第一個來介紹，其實是因為從語言角度來看，這個命名是最沒新意的，因為它的得名僅僅是因為這塊水域位於印度的南部。
要是讓你坐在岸邊，遠眺印度洋麵，你會想到給它改個什麼名字呢？
the Pacific Ocean
太平洋
If you’re wondering whether there’s a link between Pacific and pacify, then you’re not wrong. The name of the ocean was originally a specific use of pacific, meaning ‘peaceful’ or ‘characterized by calmness’. Pacific Ocean derives from Mar Pacifico, the name given in Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish to the body of water in allusion to the calm seas experienced by Ferdinand Magellan on first reaching it in 1520.
太平洋的命名最初是取用了pacific一詞表示平靜的含義，但其實這個名字源自Mar Pacifico。而這個名字興起於葡萄牙、意大利和西班牙，最初得其名是因為1520年當麥哲倫來到這片水域時，海面很是平靜。
其實，太平洋根本就不太平！
the Atlantic Ocean
大西洋
Atlantic comes from the Greek Atlantikos, from Atlas, the Titan of Greek mythology who supported the heavens with his great strength. The term Atlantic originally referred to the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, and hence to the sea near the west African coast, and was later extended to refer to the whole ocean.
這個名字又跟希臘有關，Atlantic源自希臘語裡的單詞Altantikos，指的是希臘神話裡的巨人擎天神阿特蘭斯。而Atlantic一詞最初是用來指代北非的阿特蘭斯山脈，之後又用來指代西非海岸的海域，進而指代整個大洋。
小編當初還以為大西洋的命名是源自傳說中的Atlantis（亞特蘭蒂斯）呢？
the Arctic Ocean
北冰洋
The Arctic Ocean, unsurprisingly, surrounds the Arctic; that is, the regions around the North Pole. Arctic conceals its origins rather more successfully; it comes from the Greek arktos, meaning ‘bear’ – and also ‘Ursa Major’ and ‘pole star’. The connection between bear and star comes from the story in Greek mythology that the nymph Callisto was turned into a bear and placed as a constellation in the heavens by Zeus.
這個命名的緣由與印度洋似乎同出一轍，就是因為這片水域環繞著北極大陸。而且，這個名字也是源於希臘語中的單詞arktos，意思是“熊（bear）”，也用來指代大熊星座和北極星。原來，在希臘神話裡，有個叫卡利斯托的女神，因為受天神宙斯的寵愛，遭到赫拉的妒忌，被變成了熊，所以宙斯干脆把她置於天上成了大熊星座。
宙斯好色成性，而且有個深愛著她卻又妒忌心極強的女神老婆赫拉，所以當年真不知道害慘了多少凡間美女和天上女神！
the Antarctic Ocean
南冰洋
The Antarctic Ocean, also known as the Southern Ocean, is defined in opposition to the Arctic: Antarctic simply means ‘opposite to the Arctic’. Both Antarctic Ocean and Southern Ocean are in common use as terms, and were originally used in reference to this body of water around the same time, albeit different centuries. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) currently dates Antarctic Ocean to 1699 and Southern Ocean to 1702.
要說南冰洋，估計咱國內很多人都不知道。這塊水域也是因其地理位置而得名，就是因為它環繞著南極大陸。也正因為如此，也被稱作南極海或南大洋。《牛津英語詞典》於1699年首次收錄了Antarctic Ocean一詞，於1702年首次收錄了Southern Ocean一詞。
在五大洋中，南冰洋是唯一完全環繞地球卻沒有被大陸分割的大洋。
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