Why do we called World War a 'world war'?

It's a war for control of the world. The country or alliance that wins will be the dominant world power, able to enforce its will against all other, weaker countries. read more

Because a war might simply be large enough to be colloquially known as a “World War.” Because, you could argue that technically that the entire war was not global. But the scale of it, killing millions and wounding many more millions, would have it named a World War by virtue of scale. read more

World War I was called "the Great War" not just for its epic scale but also for the sense that it was a more important and meaningful conflict than earlier European wars. The carnage created by the war was unprecedented, and it resulted in significant changes throughout the world. read more

A world war, is a large-scale war involving many of the countries of the world or many of the most powerful and populous ones. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in many theaters. read more