Etymologically
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moneta

Etymology and origin of the Latin word moneta

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Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Eponym
First attested
Cicero

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [mɔˈneː.ta][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [moˈnɛː.ta][1]

Forms

monēta f (genitive monētae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Monēta, a cult title of Juno at Rome, near whose temple on the Capitol money was coined.[2][1][3][4] The usual derivation of the name, given by Cicero and the Suda, is from moneō “to warn”, but the OLD suggests an Etruscan origin, and others a Greek word for “unique”.[1][2] Livius Andronicus used ⟨Monēta⟩, with the archaic genitive ⟨Monētās⟩, to translate Mnemosyne, mother of the Muses, by association with ⟨moneō⟩.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation for the mint is from Cicero.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant the temple of Moneta where money was coined, then any mint, as in Cicero.[2] In Juvenal it meant the die from which coins were struck, also figuratively the stamp of something, and in Ovid coinage, money.[2] Wiktionary notes the mint was in her temple from 273 BC until the building burned and the mint moved under Domitian.[1] Döderlein explains that pecūnia is money collectively, nummus a coin.[7]

In Medieval Latin it meant the right of coining and a mintage due.[8] Through Old French monoie it gave English money in the mid-13th century, and through West Germanic *munita and Old English mynet it gave English mint “place where money is coined”.[4] It survives in Italian moneta and Romanian monedă.[1]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses Monēta for Mnemosyne.[2][6]
  • 273 BC – The mint is set up in the temple of Juno Moneta.[1]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the mint.[2][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of money.[2][6]
  • mid-13th century – English money is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A mint.[2]
  2. A die for striking coins; a stamp.[2]
  3. Coinage, money.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) The right of coining.[8]

Word family

  • monētālis
  • monētārius

Usage notes

As a proper name, Monēta was a cult title of Juno, as in Cicero.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Moneta.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/moneta. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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