Etymologically
Log in

diva

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 01:14. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdiː.wa], [ˈdiː.waː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdiː.va], [ˈdiː.va][1]

Forms

dīva f (genitive dīvae, masculine dīvus); first declension[1] Inscriptions have deiv- and a genitive deuas.[2]

Etymology

It is the feminine of dīvus (“divine; god”), Old Latin ⟨deivā⟩, inherited from Proto-Italic *deiwā (“goddess”), the feminine of *deiwos (“god”), from Proto-Indo-European *deywós (“god”).[2][1] De Vaan notes Old Latin ⟨deiva⟩ at Pisaurum in the 3rd century BC and compares Oscan deívaí (“to the goddess”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius' epitaph is its earliest example in the OLD: “the divine Camenae would weep for the poet Naevius”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a goddess, often with a name or title in apposition, as Varro's and Virgil's dīva Venus.[2] Under the Empire it was applied to deified women of the imperial family, as Tacitus' flatterers voting Poppaea's dead daughter the honour of a goddess.[2] Bona Dīva is a name of the Bona Dea.[2] Köbler finds it in glossaries and medieval texts.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius' epitaph of the Camenae.[2][4]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus.[4]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of a deified member of the imperial family.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A goddess.[2][5][1]
  2. A deified woman of the imperial family.[2]

Usage notes

Dea is the ordinary word for “goddess”, which Wiktionary compares.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press