Minerva

M3I1N1E1R1V4A1
UK/mɪˈnɜː.və/US/mɪˈnɝ.və/

proper noun

The goddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts, especially crafts and in particular weaving. She is the Roman counterpart of Athena.

OriginLatin Minerva →
Less commonScrabble 12
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Meanings

Minerva1

proper nounMinerva (plural Minervas)

plural Minervas

  1. Romanhuman sciencesThe goddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts, especially crafts and in particular weaving. She is the Roman counterpart of Athena.
    1 more example

    In many works of this ſpecies, the hero is allowed to be mortal, and to become wiſe and virtuous as well as happy, by a train of events and circumſtances. The heroines, on the contrary, are to be born immaculate; and to act like goddeſſes of wiſdom, juſt come forth highly finiſhed Minervas from the head of Jove.

    1798, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, “Author’s Preface”, in W[illiam] Godwin, editor, Posthumous Works of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […]; and G[eorge,] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinson, […], →OCLC
  2. astronomy93 Minerva, a main belt asteroid.
  3. poeticWisdom.

Minerva2

proper nounMinerva (plural Minervas)

plural Minervas

  1. A surname from Italian.

Origin

Minerva · proper noun

  1. LatinMinerva
  2. LatinMinerva
  3. EnglishMinerva

Learned borrowing from Latin Minerva.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Minerva · proper noun

  1. ItalianMinerva
  2. ItalianMinerva
  3. EnglishMinerva

Borrowed from Italian Minerva.

More words from Italian

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مِينِيرْفَا
  • مِينِيرْفَا (minirfā)goddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Bulgarian Мине́рва
  • Мине́рва (Minérva)goddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Chinese Mandarin 彌涅耳瓦 /弥涅耳瓦
  • 彌涅耳瓦 /弥涅耳瓦 (Míniè'ěrwǎ)goddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Czech Minerva
  • Minervagoddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Esperanto Minervo
  • Minervogoddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
French Minerve
  • Minervegoddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Greek Μινέρβα
  • Μινέρβα (Minérva)goddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Japanese ミネルバ
  • ミネルバ (Mineruba)goddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Korean 미네르바
  • 미네르바 (Minereuba)goddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Latin Minerva
  • Minervagoddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Polish Minerwa
  • Minerwagoddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Portuguese Minerva
  • Minervagoddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts
Russian Мине́рва
  • Мине́рва (Minérva)goddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, and the arts

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

vermianMervian
Cite this entry
APA

Minerva. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Minerva

MLA

“Minerva.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Minerva. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Minerva,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Minerva.

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