Leopold Wagner - Names - and Their Meaning

Ascension Islandwas discovered by the Portuguese on Ascension Day, 1501; and the Isle of St. Helenaon the Feast of St. Helena, 1502. Tristan d’Acunhareceived the name of the Portuguese navigator who discovered it in 1651. The Canary Islandswere originally so called on account of the numerous dogs, as well as of their unusual size (Latin canis , a dog), bred here. Madeirais a Portuguese term signifying timber; the inference being that this island was formerly covered by an immense forest. Majorcaand Minorca, literally in accordance with the Latin major and minor , the Greater and Lesser Island, are denominated also the Balearic Islandsfrom the Greek ballein , to throw, because their inhabitants were anciently noted slingers. Corsicais a Phœnician word denoting “the wooded island”; Sardiniaexpresses the “land of the Sardonion,” a Greek term for a plant indigenous to this island; Caprisignifies the “island of goats,” agreeably to the Latin caper , a he-goat; Sicilyreceived its name from the Siculi , a tribe who settled upon it in early times; Maltawas anciently Melita , “the place of refuge”; Candiacomes from the Arabic Khandæ , “the island of trenches”; and Cyprusfrom the Greek Kupros , the name of a herb with which the island abounded; while Rhodesindicates an “island of roses,” in conformity with the Greek rhodon , a rose.

Belleisleis French for “beautiful island”; Jerseywas originally Czar’s-ey , meaning “Cæsar’s Island,” so called by the Romans in honour of Julius Cæsar; the Isle of Wightdenoted in the long, long ago the Island of the Wyts, or Jutes; just as Gothlandindicated a settlement of the Goths. Heligolandexpresses the Danish for “holy island settlement.” Angleseais really a corruption of Anglesey , signifying, in accordance with the suffix ey , the Isle of the Angles [ see Chelsea]. The Isle of Manis the modern designation of Mona Island, by which was meant, agreeably to the Celtic mæn , a stone “rocky island.” The Hebrideswere anciently referred to by Ptolemy as the Ebudæ , and by Pliny as the Hebudes , denoting the “Western Isles”; the Orkney Islesexpresses the Gaelic for the “Isles of Whales,” alluding to their situation; and the Shetland Isles, the Norse for the “Viking Island,” conformably with their native prenomen Hyalti , a Viking. The term Viking, by the way, meaning a pirate, was derived from the Vik , or creek, in which he lay concealed. The name of Icelandneeds no comment, further than that, perhaps, the north and west coasts of the island are frequently blockaded with ice, which has drifted before the wind from Greenland. Spitzbergenis literal Dutch for “sharp-pointed mountains,” referring to the granite peaks of the mountains, which are so characteristic of this group of islands; while Nova Zemblapresents a strange mixture of the Latin and Slavonic, literally “new land.”

The titles of the months are modernized forms of those in use among the Romans, namely:— January, in honour of Janus, a deity who presided over the beginning of everything; February, from the Latin word febru , to purify, because the purification of women took place in this month; March, after Mars, the God of War; April, from aperio , to open, this being the month in which the buds shoot forth; May, after Maia, the mother of Mercury, to whom sacrifices were offered on the first day of this month; June, from Juno, the queen goddess; July, the name given to this month by Marc Antony in honour of Julius Cæsar, who was born in it; August, named by Augustus Cæsar after himself, because in this month he celebrated three distinct triumphs, reduced Egypt to subjection, and put an end to the civil wars; while September, October, November, and Decemberliterally express the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth months of the old Roman Calendar, counted from March, which commenced the year previous to the addition of January and February by Numa in the year 713 b.c.

The Egyptian astronomers were the first to distinguish the days by names, when, as might have been expected, they called them after the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets, viz., Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. Of these the two first and the last survive, but for the rest the names of as many gods of the Scandinavian mythology have been substituted. Nowadays, then, we have the following:— Sunday, originally signifying the day upon which the sun was worshipped; Monday, the day of the moon; Tuesdaydevoted to Tiw, the God of War; Wednesday, set apart for the worship of Odin, or Wodin, the God of Magic and the Inventor of the Arts; Thursday, the day of Thor, the son of Odin (or Wodin), and the God of Thunder; Friday, allotted to Frigga, the wife of Odin, and the Goddess of Marriage; and Saturday, the day of Saturn, one of the planets of the solar system.

Theismand Deismboth express a belief in God; the former term being derived from the Greek Theos , God, and the latter from the Latin, Deus , God. The Theist, however, admits the Theocracyor Government of God (Greek Theos , God, and kratein , to govern); the Deist, on the contrary, maintains that God in the beginning implanted in all His works certain immutable laws, comprehended by mankind under the name of the “Laws of Nature,” which act of themselves, and are no longer subject to the supervision of the Creator. Pantheism(from the Greek pan , all, everything, and Theos , God) is the religion which rejects a belief in a personal God, but recognizes Him in all the processes, and works, and glories, and beauties of Nature, and animated creation. Briefly, the Pantheistholds the doctrine that “God is everything, and everything is God.” The word Atheismcomes from the Greek Theos , God, and the prefix a , without. An Atheist, therefore, practically answers to the description given by David in the opening line of Psalm xiv., “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” Agnosticismis also Greek, in accordance with the prefix a , without, and gnomi , to know. An Agnosticis one whose belief is confined to that which he knows and sees, and who rejects everything at all beyond his understanding. Secularism, derived from the Latin seculum , an age, a generation, is the term given to the principles advocated by Messrs. Holyoake in 1846, which professed an entire independence of religion, except so far as it pertains to this life. The Secularistaims at promoting the happiness of the community during the present life. His religion is that of this world, without troubling himself about possibilities concerning a life hereafter. Such views are closely allied to those set forth by John Stuart Mill (born 1806, died 1873) under the name of Utilitarianism, by which was meant, “the happiness of the greatest number.” This term was based upon the Latin utilitas , usefulness. Spiritualismexpresses a belief in the soul’s immortality, as opposed to the doctrine of Materialism, which contends that the soul, or thinking part of man, is the result of some peculiar organization of matter in the body, with which it must necessarily die. Rationalismconstitutes the doctrine which accepts the test of Reason and Experience in the pursuit of knowledge, particularly in regard to religious truth, rejecting the gift of Faith, Revelation, and everything connected with the supernatural or miraculous. This was the religion (!) of the French Revolutionists, who set up an actress to be publicly honoured as the “Goddess of Reason” in the Cathedral of Nôtre Dame on the 10th of November, 1793.