I am thinking about three different meanings of the word Titan:
- a moon of Saturn
- a chemical element
- a God/Goddess in the Greek mythology (maybe these exist only in the plural form)
What are the grammatical genders in each of these cases?
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4AFAIK, moons are always masculine. For the rest see: duden.de/suchen/dudenonline/Titan – Roland Mar 10 at 11:36
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1Usually, celestial bodies (planets, moons, asteroids etc,) that are named after mythological figures (greek, roman, nordic...) have the same gender as that figure. However, often they are referred to without an article at all. – Volker Landgraf Mar 11 at 18:23
Der Titan (Saturn's moon)
Das Titan(ium) (chemical element Ti)
Der Titan (male deity, e.g. Yapetus), die Titanin (female deity, e.g. Theia), just like English titan/titanesse. More of them are die Titanen (Titans).
https://www.duden.de/suchen/dudenonline/Titan does not have the female form of the greek deities, but it exists nevertheless. "Titanide" seems to be another expression for the female titanic versions, apparently derived from Greek. So be it, then.
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3The plural of »der Titan« is »die Titanen«, »der Titane« is an alternate form to »der Titan«. – Raketenolli Mar 10 at 13:44
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