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Etymology and origin of the Latin word mina

mina1 Greek weight and coin

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek μνᾶ
Ultimate origin
Akkadian (manû)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmɪ.na][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmiː.na][1]

Forms

mina f (genitive minae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The Greek weight and coin is borrowed from Ancient Greek μνᾶ (mnâ),[2][3][1] which is ultimately of Semitic origin;[2] Köbler compares Hebrew and Babylonian-Assyrian, and Wiktionary traces it through Aramaic to Akkadian manû.[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Saalfeld counts 127 instances in Plautus,[3] who speaks of twenty silver minas spent on a son.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a Greek weight of a hundred drachmas, about a pound, as in Cato's recipe with three minas in an amphora and in Pliny the Elder.[2][5] In comedy it is above all the silver mina, a Greek unit of money worth a hundred drachmas;[2][3] Terence uses it 18 times.[2][3] A gold mina is the same value in gold, and Plautus also has the mina Philippea.[2][3] The Greek form mna is in Pliny and the Vulgate.[5][3]

Medieval writers kept it as a weight and money of account,[6][7] and in British medieval Latin it is also a measure of corn of two bushels.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it often of sums of money.[2][3][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder as a weight.[2][4]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has the form mna.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A Greek weight of a hundred drachmas.[2][5][1]
  2. A Greek unit of money, the silver mina;[2][5][1] mina auri, its value in gold.[2][5][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A measure of corn.[6]

mina2 ore, mine

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
Bern scholia on Virgil
Borrowed from
Gaulish *mēnā
Ultimate origin
Proto-Celtic (*meinis)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmiː.na][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmiː.na][1]

Forms

mīna f (genitive mīnae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The “ore, mine” is borrowed from Gaulish *mēnā (“ore, mine”), from Proto-Celtic *meinis (“ore, mine”), according to Wiktionary;[1] Köbler calls its origin unclear.[4] Niermeyer marks it as Celtic and records the form ⟨mena⟩.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Bern scholia on Virgil, perhaps of the 5th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Late and Medieval Latin it is ore, and a mine.[1][8] Du Cange quotes a charter of the emperor Louis granting a place for digging lead ore, and a charter of Blanche, countess of Troyes, of 1226 allowing the taking of ore.[7]

Timeline

  • 5th century AD? – The Bern scholia on Virgil.[4]
  • 1226 – A charter of Blanche of Troyes of ore taken from a mine.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) Ore.[1][8][7]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A mine.[1][8][7]

Usage notes

Lewis & Short record a separate adjective mina “smooth-bellied”, of sheep without wool on the belly, in Varro, with a pun in Plautus.[5] Niermeyer derives a medieval dry measure mina from hēmīna, and lists mina “ambush”, from minārī, and a plural minae “battlements” from a misreading of Virgil;[8][7] Du Cange explains mina “plot” from the verb minare in Fredegar.[8][7] The plural minae “threats” is a separate word.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  8. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Mina.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/mina. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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