diva

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian diva (“goddess, fine lady”),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin dīva (“goddess”), the feminine of dīvus (“god; divine”),^[5][3][2][6] the source of divine.^[6][4][7] Barnhart notes the Italian sense "goddess" in Dante, and thinks the English borrowing may have been helped by French diva or German Diva.^[4] The Latin word is related to deus (“god”), from Proto-Indo-European *dyeu- (“to shine”), whose derivatives mean "sky, heaven, god".^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A distinguished female singer, a prima donna: 1883, in Harper's Magazine.^[2][8][4] Etymonline gives an earlier date, 1864.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word came in with the opera: a diva was first the leading woman singer of an opera company, the prima donna.^[2][4][9] It was later applied to famous singers of other kinds of music, as in jazz diva or pop diva,^[5][10][8] and to any glamorous and successful woman performer or personality.^[8] From 1988 the OED records the sense of a self-important, temperamental and very demanding person, usually a woman,^[2] a development that follows prima donna itself.^[2] In American Black slang diva has also meant a stately woman of real presence, or any accomplished woman,^[11] and campus slang of the early 1990s used it as an adjective meaning excellent.^[11]

Timeline

• 1864 – first date in Etymonline.^[3]
• 1883 – a distinguished female singer, a prima donna.^[2][8]
• 1988 – a self-important, temperamental and demanding person.^[2]
• 1990–1992 – adjective in US campus slang, excellent.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A celebrated female opera singer; a prima donna.^{[2][5][10][8]}
2. A famous female singer of popular music: a soul diva.^[5][10][8]
3. A glamorous and successful female performer or public figure.^[8]
4. (informal) A person, usually a woman, who is temperamental, self-important and demanding.^{[2][5][10][12]}

Related words

• divine
• deity
• divo

Usage notes

The plural is divas or, after Italian, dive.^[8][5][13]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins