Ishtar

I1S1H4T1A1R1

proper noun

A goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war. In the Babylonian pantheon, she was the divine personification of the planet Venus; the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the northwest-Semitic goddess Astarte.

OriginAkkadian 𒀭𒈹 →
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. Mesopotamian mythologyA goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war. In the Babylonian pantheon, she was the divine personification of the planet Venus; the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the northwest-Semitic goddess Astarte.

Origin

  1. Akkadian𒀭𒈹
  2. EnglishIshtar

Learned borrowing from Akkadian 𒀭𒈹 (Ištar). Doublet of Astarte and Ashtoreth. Despite modern folk-etymology, not related in any way to English Easter.

More words from Akkadian

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic عشتار
  • عشتار (ʕaštār)Mesopotamian goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war
Finnish Ištar, Eštar
  • IštarMesopotamian goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war
  • EštarMesopotamian goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war
Hindi इश्तार
  • इश्तार (iśtār)Mesopotamian goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war
Polish Isztar
  • IsztarMesopotamian goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war
Turkish İştar
  • İştarMesopotamian goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

TrishaRashti
Cite this entry
APA

Ishtar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ishtar

MLA

“Ishtar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ishtar. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ishtar,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ishtar.

Source: Ishtar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.