mina Latin · revision 31916

+ {{homograph|1|Greek weight and coin}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=akk manû}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmɪ.na]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmiː.na]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mina''' ''f'' (genitive minae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The Greek weight and coin is [[bor|grc|μνᾶ|tr=mnâ]],^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary) which is ultimately of Semitic origin;^(OLD 2012) Köbler compares Hebrew and Babylonian-Assyrian, and Wiktionary traces it through Aramaic to [[akk|manû]].^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Saalfeld counts 127 instances in Plautus,^(Saalfeld 1874) who speaks of twenty silver minas spent on a son.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In comedy it is above all the silver mina, a Greek unit of money worth a hundred drachmas;^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874) Terence uses it 18 times.^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874) A gold mina is the same value in gold, and Plautus also has the ''mina Philippea''.^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874) The Greek form ''mna'' is in Pliny and the Vulgate.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Saalfeld 1874)

+

+ Medieval writers kept it as a weight and money of account,^(DMLBS)^(Du Cange 1883) and in British medieval Latin it is also a measure of corn of two bushels.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it often of sums of money.^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder as a weight.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has the form ''mna''.^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A Greek [[m|en|weight]] of a hundred drachmas.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A Greek unit of money, the silver mina;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''mina auri'', its value in gold.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A measure of corn.^(DMLBS)

+

+ {{homograph|2|ore, mine}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=Bern scholia on Virgil|origins=cel-pro *meinis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmiː.na]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmiː.na]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mīna''' ''f'' (genitive mīnae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The “ore, mine” is [[bor|xtg|*mēnā|t=ore, mine]], from [[cel-pro|*meinis|t=ore, mine]], according to Wiktionary;^(Wiktionary) Köbler calls its origin unclear.^(Köbler 2010) Niermeyer marks it as Celtic and records the form ⟨mena⟩.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is the Bern scholia on Virgil, perhaps of the 5th century.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Late and Medieval Latin it is ore, and a mine.^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976) 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.^(Du Cange 1883)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 5th century AD? – The Bern scholia on Virgil.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1226 – A charter of Blanche of Troyes of ore taken from a mine.^(Du Cange 1883)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(Late Latin, Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|ore|alt=Ore]].^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Du Cange 1883)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|mine]].^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Du Cange 1883)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[minae]]

+

+ ==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.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Niermeyer derives a medieval dry measure ''mina'' from ''[[hemina|alt=hēmīna]]'', and lists ''mina'' “ambush”, from ''[[minor|alt=minārī]]'', and a plural ''minae'' “battlements” from a misreading of Virgil;^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Du Cange 1883) Du Cange explains ''mina'' “plot” from the verb ''minare'' in Fredegar.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Du Cange 1883) The plural ''[[minae]]'' “threats” is a separate word.^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}