dea

Forms

dea f (genitive deae); first declension^[1] An inscription from Pisaurum (third century BC) has deiva.^[2] The dative and ablative plural is deābus, especially beside dīs (dīs deābusque, “to the gods and goddesses”); diīs and diābus are also found.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is the feminine of deus “god”: Old Latin ⟨deiva⟩ is inherited from Proto-Italic *deiwā, the feminine of *deiwo-, from Proto-Indo-European *deywós (“god”).^[2][1][3][5] Oscan has deívaí (“to the goddess”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The form deiva is found in a third-century BC inscription from Pisaurum.^[2][5] De Vaan dates dea itself from Plautus.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dea means “goddess” throughout Latin.^[3][4][1][6] The TLL lists among its names Bona Dea, “the Good Goddess”, and dea Dia.^[7]

Timeline

• 3rd century BC – deiva in an inscription from Pisaurum.^[2][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses dea.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: dīs deābusque.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A goddess.^[3][4][1][6]

Word family

• sēmidea

Related words

• deus
• dīvus
• dīva
• dīvīnus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften