Etymologically
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dea

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈde.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛː.a][1]

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

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