According to Robert11 :
Hello,

Just want to get the terminology correct.

Understand the differences between the Ground and the neutral in house
wiring O.K., but for
the bare wire that comes in from the street (along with the two phases) to
the house service panel:

is this correctly called a Ground wire or a Neutral wire ?

Neither. John Grabowski's response is correct, but I thought I'd
amplify.

The technically correct term for the "neutral" in the house wiring, and the "non-hot" wire
that comes from the street is "grounded conductor" - the conductor is groundED (at the
panel).

The technically correct term for the bare wire in house wiring is "grounding conductor"
it provides the groundING for a circuit.

Pedantically speaking, the term "neutral" can only be applied to the center conductor
on a multi-phase circuit (eg: three phase).

However, through common usage in the trade and elsewhere, "neutral" has come
to be synonymous with "grounded conductor" and "ground"/"ground wire" synonymous for
"grounding conductor".

You'll occasionally see people use the "more-correct" terms here - usually confuses
people. You'll impress the inspector if you use them ;-)
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.