Etymology

nova

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Today it means: Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star. Full definition →

Latin novus ← Proto-Italic *nowos ← Proto-Indo-European *néwos
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nova · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*nu
  2. Proto-Indo-European*néwos
  3. Proto-Italic*nowos
  4. Latinnovus
  5. English todaynova

Feminine nominative singular of Latin novus (“new”). The feminine is used since stella (“star”) is feminine; thus nova is a shortening of new star (“nova stella”), first used in this sense in 1573 by Tycho Brahe.

nova · noun2

  1. Latin · derived from-a
  2. English todaynova

Blend of novum + Latin -a. From the Latin -a suffix used as the plural suffix form for singular words ending with -um (an inflection of -us).

Nova · proper noun3

  1. Latin · derived fromnova“new”
  2. English todayNova

From Latin nova (“new”).

Nova · noun4

Clipping of Nova Scotia.

Nova · proper noun5

Abbreviation of Northern Virginia.

NoVA · proper noun6

Blend of northern + VA (“Virginia”).

Words from the same roots

Latinnovus all →

novilunarNovocastriannovolacnovuss

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.