Siobhan McEnaney, age 12, of San Diego, California, for his question:

How did the word Europe originate?

Most of our words descended from the language of ancient civilization, and some of the earliest words were invented to name places around the Mediterranean Sea, where ancient civilizations flourished. So it is not surprising that the name of Europe stems from the distant past. Actually, it goes back to the times when natural events were explained by myths and legends and people thought the world was ruled by superhuman type gods and goddesses.

The king of the old gods was Jupiter    a wayward character who liked pretty human girls. According to a reek legend, he disguised himself as a handsome white bull to attract the attention of a pretty Phoenician princess. He coaxed her to ride on his back    then plunged into the sea and swam off with her to Crete. Her name was Europa. Ages ago, the continent of Europe was named in her honor.