Is there a proper word that can be used to refer to someone (some living/sentient entity) that originates from the Sun? I'm guessing "solar" would not be the proper word for this.
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17Well... I doubt this has been asked before.– Eric HauensteinCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 14:43
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13You can call them anything you want as there is no established word, as there is no living on the Sun.– RegDwigнtCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 14:48
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24I suggest "tan".– Dan BronCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 14:52
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8@Dan - sunburned might be even better :^) We could even use a hyphen.– J.R.Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 15:43
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6I'd call him "Burnie".– Doug WarrenCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 18:22
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4 Answers
I would use Solarian which appears to be the latin demonym for denizens of the sun as pointed out in the comments. Wiki
It also follows nicely in the footsteps of Martian, Venusian, and Jovian, which are the most common terms for the hypothetical inhabitants of Mars, Venus, and Jupiter respectively.
As for the usage in science fiction as pointed out in the comments, the examples I located were not used in the literal sense. This makes sense, as most biological processes would find the surface of the sun to be somewhat less than ideal.
answered Nov 11, 2015 at 14:46
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10It's apparently pretty well used in science fiction literature: en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Solarian Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 14:50
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3If I were being especially droll, I might have said 'burnt' or 'no longer living'. Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 15:23
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4"Solarian" is supported by Wikipedia's list of astronomical demonyms, as is "Lunarian" for the moon. I'm not sure where the actual source is coming from though. @Rathony Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 17:36
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3@Angelo Suddenly, the name Adam Selene makes a whole lot of sense. Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 18:42
Next to "Solarian," you might want to consider Helian.
HELIAN
from Greek helios (Sun) + suffix -ian
A learned synonym for the term solarian - it is derived from the higher-status Greek, not from the lower-status Latin. The term is indicative of its user's erudition. Digital Commons @ Butler University
heliacal: relating to or near the sun M-W
So what should you call someone from the earth? Tellus was the goddess of the earth, which gives us Tellurian (the preferred choice of E.E. "Doc" Smith). The Greek counterpart is Ge or Gaea, from which we get words like geology and perigee. A person living on Gaea would be a Gaean.
"Terra" (and consequently "Terran" and "terrestrial") is seen a lot in SciFi, but it's no more a proper name than "earth" is. "Terra" is simply the Latin word for "dirt" or "land." It's not the name of a god or goddess, so it doesn't follow the rule for the names of the other planets.
"Earthling" is awfully retro and "Earthian" is just beneath contempt.
Unlike the earth, the sun does have a name: Sol (with the Greek equivalent being Helios). So an inhabitant of the sun would be a Solarian or Helian. io9.com
Another possibility, by analogy with H. G. Wells' "Selenite," is Solarite.
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Greek is actually my native language, but I didn't even think of "Helian" , mainly because there is no analog of the word "Helian" in greek. But yeah, it doesn't sound bad. Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 15:28
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29Elian recommends Helian, a word just one character removed from his name? I sense a hidden motive. Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 15:29
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3@EricHauenstein Maybe he dropped the H when he emigrated to Earth so his origins would be less obvious....– ErikCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 21:45
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6@Erik His vile Solarian machinations are entirely transparent to me. Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 21:48
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6I think your source is wrong about this being unlike the earth. The earth also has a name (or actually, three of them: the native English "Earth," the Latin-based "Terra," and the Greek-based "Gaea/Gea/Gaia").– herissonCommented Nov 12, 2015 at 4:36
I think Solarling or Sunling would be interesting, seeing as we are called "Earthlings". It'd be a nice name for a race a bit on the "cuddly" or more "familiar" side, though, as the name gives the connotation of that- which I doubt is what you are going for.
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2"Starling" would follow that same pattern and be quite endearing. Or maybe it would be what Solarians call their sweethearts instead of darling.– ErikCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 21:48
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4Except "starling" is already a name for several bird species, so that would just cause confusion. Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 21:50
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1@DarrelHoffman True, but I'm sure context would eliminate confusion. We've managed to cope for years with the legacy of Columbus's faux pas with Indians (American Indians vs Indian Americans, Native Americans vs American Natives, etc.). I assume the differences between a being whose native habitat is the sun would be distinct enough from a common bird that confusion would be minimal even without context. Similarly if Starling was used as a being from the sun their young could be called starlets. That term is overloaded too but with a dash of context the subject should be clear IMO.– ErikCommented Nov 11, 2015 at 22:04
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2@DarrelHoffman
:-D"THE STARLINGS ARE COMING!" probably doesn't convey the sense of drama that the asker is looking for Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 9:34
starchild or children of the sun could be for what you are looking for. It is a fact that our sun is a star by its astronomical definition.
An alternative could be found in the lore of the SF show Andromeda. As a avatar of the suns, Trance Gemini was a sun-born lightbringer, a immortal humanoid form of a star that co-exist in the common spacetime.
So, starchild or sun-born / solar-born are the closest definitions from my point of view.
