Terra (mythology) - Name

Name

The two words terra and tellus are thought to derive from the formulaic phrase tersa tellus, meaning "dry land". The etymology of tellus is uncertain; it is perhaps related to Sanskrit talam, "plain ground."

The 4th-century AD Latin commentator Servius distinguishes between tellus and terra in usage. Terra, he says, is properly used of the elementum, earth as one of the four classical elements with air, water, and fire. Tellus is the goddess, whose name can be substituted (ponimus … pro) for her functional sphere the earth, just as the name Vulcanus is used for fire, Ceres for produce, and Liber for wine. Tellus thus refers to the guardian deity of Earth and by extension the globe itself. Tellus may be an aspect of the numen called Dea Dia by the Arval priests, or at least a close collaborator with her as "divinity of the clear sky."

Varro identifies Terra Mater with Ceres:

Not without cause was the Earth (Terra) called Mater and Ceres. It was believed that those who cultivated her led a pious and useful life (piam et utilem … vitam), and that they were the sole survivors from the line of King Saturn.

Mater, the Latin word for "mother," is often used as an honorific for goddesses, including Vesta, who was represented as a virgin. "Mother" therefore expresses the respect that one would owe a mother, though Tellus and Terra are both regarded as mothers in the genealogical sense as well.