Minerva | Word of the Day

March 08, 2018 Minerva [mi-nur-vuh] noun 1. a woman of great wisdom. 2. the ancient Roman goddess of wisdom and the arts, identified with the Greek goddess Athena. ways to say Suburban Dictionary.com word facts Strange Idioms With Bizarre Origin Rumors WORD OF THE DAY Minerva continued... QUOTES God, it seems like I'll always have a Minerva by my side being a better person than I am. -- Julia Alvarez, In the Time of the Butterflies, 1994 ORIGIN The Roman goddess Minerva is so completely identified with the Greek goddess Athena that it is difficult to discern what is "native" to Minerva. Minerva (earlier Latin spelling Menerva) was a native Italian goddess of handicrafts (hence easily identified with Athena in that respect). The name Minerva (Menerva) may be of Indo-European origin, from the root men- "to think, bear in mind," source of English mind, Latin meminī "I remember," and Greek Méntōr, a proper name meaning "adviser." The original Latin name will have been Meneswā "intelligent, wise (woman)," related to Sanskrit manasvin "wise" and Manasvinī, the name of the mother of the moon. Alternatively, Meneswā may mean "woman who measures (the phases of the moon)," from the Proto-Indo-European root mē- "to measure," source of English meal (a Germanic word), as in piecemeal, measure (from Latin), and Greek metron "measure," the source of the English suffix -meter, among other words. Minerva as the name of the goddess entered English in the Old English period; the sense "wise woman" dates from the late 18th century. OTHERS ARE READING 1 The Oldest Memes in History Memes have been around longer than Kermit sipping tea 2 Don't Be Accident Porn & Other Funny Typos Writing comes with inherent risks: spelling errors! 3 Strange Idioms With Bizarre Origin Rumors These stories are too good to be true. 4 Beyond Ridiculous Hairstyles in the 1700s Every Day Was Wacky Hair Day In The 1700s 5 When to use whose and who's correctly Apostrophe or no apostrophe? That may be the real question. © 2018 Dictionary.com, LLC. ABOUT CONTACT You are subscribed to the Word of the Day as: matzom229@gmail.com Subscriber since: September 06, 2017 Unsubscribe Dictionary.com, LLC. 555 12th Street Suite 500 Oakland CA 94607 Manage your subscription Terms & Privacy