Why Is Sand Called Sand? No, It's Not Because It's Between The Sea ...

Lots of people believe it, but trust us, sand is NOT called sand because it’s between the sea and the land.

Think about it. Why would they give it a name based on the beach, when the majority of sand is found in the world’s deserts?

So, why is sand really called ‘sand’?

Language is constantly evolving and distorting, so it can be hard to pin down the exact origins behind words.

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The word sand is thought to have originated from an Old English word, which itself originated from the old Dutch word sant, which became zand (meaning, you guessed it, sand).

The word didn’t originally refer to the yellow stuff on the beach (as most people a few hundred years ago probably lived and died without ever having seen the ocean).

It was actually used to describe unstable ground found on fine dirt near a river bed.

The word then came to mean something that was finer than gravel, but coarser than dust.

Where did the sea/land = sand idea come from?

No one really knows, but one thing’s for sure, there are about a hundred Reddit posts of people claiming it is true.

Not that we’re placing blame with any one particular source or anything…

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Fun(ish) fact about the word sand

The word arena actually means sand in Latin.

The Romans would cover the ground of the gladiator pits, or arenas, in sand so the blood would drain away.

Therefore arenas were literally ‘places with sand’ to the Romans.

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