The meaning of al-Dunya (the World):

[Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen (3/355) of Shaikh al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله]

The Shaikh رحمه الله said:

الدنيا(Al-Dunya - the World): is this life which we are living in. It was named Dunyaa because of two reasons:

The First: It is أدنى (Adnaa - nearer/closer) than الآخرة (al-Aakhirah - the Hereafter), because it came BEFORE the Hereafter as Allaah تعالى said:

{وللآخرة خير لك من الأولى}
{And indeed the Hereafter is better for you than the present (life of this world).} [Surah al-Dhuhaa (93): 4]

The Second: It is دنيئة (Danee’ah - ignoble/inferior), it is nothing in comparison to the Hereafter. As Imaam Ahmad has reported:

لموضع سوط أحدكم في الجنة خير من الدنيا وما فيها

“A place in Paradise (as small) as that occupied by the whip of one of you is better than the world and whatever is in it.” [Musnad of Imaam Ahmad (22290) and Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (2892, 3250, 6415) on the authority of Sahl ibn Sa`d رضي الله عنه]

The place, the size of a short and small stick (whip), in Paradise is better than world and whatever is in it, from its beginning to its end.