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.
且不说地球到底有几大洋（国内教材一般都说是四大洋，但在国内引进的不少科普书里，都说有五大洋，本文提到的最后那个就是第五大洋），我们先来看看“洋”在英语里的对应单词ocean。这个词源自希腊语单词ōkeanos，意思是环绕地球大陆的水域，但在地理意义上讲，sea才是与大陆相邻的水域，而ocean应该是指在sea之外的水域。
好了，接下去我们就来一探究竟，到底世界五大洋的名字都是怎么来的吧。
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.
要说为什么印度洋放在第一个来介绍，其实是因为从语言角度来看，这个命名是最没新意的，因为它的得名仅仅是因为这块水域位于印度的南部。
要是让你坐在岸边，远眺印度洋面，你会想到给它改个什么名字呢？
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.
这个名字又跟希腊有关，Atlantic源自希腊语里的单词Altantikos，指的是希腊神话里的巨人擎天神阿特兰斯。而Atlantic一词最初是用来指代北非的阿特兰斯山脉，之后又用来指代西非海岸的海域，进而指代整个大洋。
小编当初还以为大西洋的命名是源自传说中的Atlantis（亚特兰蒂斯）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.
这个命名的缘由与印度洋似乎同出一辙，就是因为这片水域环绕着北极大陆。而且，这个名字也是源于希腊语中的单词arktos，意思是“熊（bear）”，也用来指代大熊星座和北极星。原来，在希腊神话里，有个叫卡利斯托的女神，因为受天神宙斯的宠爱，遭到赫拉的妒忌，被变成了熊，所以宙斯干脆把她置于天上成了大熊星座。
宙斯好色成性，而且有个深爱着她却又妒忌心极强的女神老婆赫拉，所以当年真不知道害惨了多少凡间美女和天上女神！
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.
要说南冰洋，估计咱国内很多人都不知道。这块水域也是因其地理位置而得名，就是因为它环绕着南极大陆。也正因为如此，也被称作南极海或南大洋。《牛津英语词典》于1699年首次收录了Antarctic Ocean一词，于1702年首次收录了Southern Ocean一词。
在五大洋中，南冰洋是唯一完全环绕地球却没有被大陆分割的大洋。
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