Meanings
rhea1
plural rheas
- A large flightless bird of the order Rheiformes, native to South America.
rhea2
- Ramie (Boehmeria nivea), a fiber-yielding plant.
Rhea3
- A female given name from Ancient Greek in occasional use.
- astronomyThe main-belt asteroid 577 Rhea.
Rhea4
- A surname.
- An unincorporated community in Rhea's Mill Township, Washington County, Arkansas, United States.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsmaller of two tall fast-running flightless birds similar to ostriches but three-toed; found from Peru to Strait of Magellan
nounlarger of two tall fast-running flightless birds similar to ostriches but three-toed; found from Brazil to Patagonia
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
rhea · noun
- Ancient GreekῬέα“the mother of Zeus in Greek mythology”
- taxonomic nameRhea
- Englishrhea
Learned borrowing from taxonomic name Rhea, from Ancient Greek Ῥέα (Rhéa, “the mother of Zeus in Greek mythology”).
More words from taxonomic name, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →rhea · noun
- asৰিহা“rihā”
- Englishrhea
From Assamese ৰিহা (riha, “rihā”).
More words from as
Full word history & related roots →Rhea · proper noun
- Ancient GreekῬέα (Rhéa)
- LatinRhea
- EnglishRhea
Internationalism. Learned borrowing from Latin Rhea, from Ancient Greek Ῥέα (Rhéa). The origin of the Ancient Greek name is disputed. Suggested explanations connect it with ἔρα (éra, “ground, earth”) or ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow, stream”), while a Pre-Greek or Minoan origin has also been proposed. The moon of Saturn was discovered by Italian-French astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1672. Its present name, after the mythological Rhea, was proposed by John Herschel in 1847 as part of his naming scheme for Saturn's moons. The asteroid 577 Rhea is likewise named after the mythological Rhea. Compare German Rhea, Finnish Rhea, French Rhéa, Spanish Rea, Italian Rea and English Rhea.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek Ῥέα
- Ῥέα (Rhéa)Greek goddess
Bulgarian Рея, Рея
- Рея (Reja)Greek goddess
- Рея (Reja)moon of Saturn
- Рея (Reja)main-belt asteroid
Catalan nyandú
- nyandúflightless bird
Chinese Cantonese 蕾亞 /蕾亚
- 蕾亞 /蕾亚 (leoi⁵ aa³, leoi⁴ aa³)Greek goddess
Chinese Mandarin 鶆䴈 /𱉵𬸩, 瑞亞 /瑞亚
- 鶆䴈 /𱉵𬸩 (lái'ǎo)flightless bird
- 瑞亞 /瑞亚 (Ruìyà, Ruìyǎ)Greek goddess
- 雷亞 /雷亚 (Léiyà, Léiyǎ)Greek goddess
- 土衛五 /土卫五 (Tǔwèiwǔ)moon of Saturn
- 母神星 (Mǔshénxīng)main-belt asteroid
Czech nandu
- nanduflightless bird
Danish Rhea, Rhea
- RheaGreek goddess
- Rheamoon of Saturn
Dutch nandoe
- nandoeflightless bird
Esperanto nanduo, reao
- nanduoflightless bird
- reaoflightless bird
Finnish nandu, Rhea
- nanduflightless bird
- RheaGreek goddess
- Rheamoon of Saturn
- Rheamain-belt asteroid
French nandou, Rhéa
- nandouflightless bird
- RhéaGreek goddess
- Rhéamoon of Saturn
German Nandu, Rhea
- Nanduflightless bird
- Rheamoon of Saturn
Greek Ρέα, Ρέα
- Ρέα (Réa)Greek goddess
- Ρέα (Réa)moon of Saturn
Hungarian nandu
- nanduflightless bird
Irish Rhea
- Rheamoon of Saturn
Italian nandù, Rea
- nandùflightless bird
- Reamoon of Saturn
Japanese レア, レア
- レア (rea)flightless bird
- レア (Rea)Greek goddess
- レア (Rea)moon of Saturn
- レア (Rea)main-belt asteroid
Korean 레아, 레아
- 레아 (rea)flightless bird
- 레아 (Rea)Greek goddess
- 레아 (Rea)moon of Saturn
- 레아 (Rea)main-belt asteroid
Latvian Reja
- RejaGreek goddess
Lithuanian Rėja
- RėjaGreek goddess
Norwegian Bokmål Rhea, Rhea
- RheaGreek goddess
- Rheamoon of Saturn
- Rheamain-belt asteroid
Polish nandu, Rea
- nanduflightless bird
- ReaGreek goddess
- RejaGreek goddess
- Reamoon of Saturn
- Rejamoon of Saturn
- Reamain-belt asteroid
Portuguese ema, nhandu
- emaflightless bird
- nhanduflightless bird
- nanduflightless bird
- ReiaGreek goddess
- Reiamoon of Saturn
Romanian nandu
- nanduflightless bird
Russian нанду, Ре́я
- нанду (nandu)flightless bird
- Ре́я (Réja)Greek goddess
- Ре́я (Réja)moon of Saturn
Spanish ñandú, Rea
- ñandúflightless bird
- Reamoon of Saturn
Swahili nandu, Rea
- nanduflightless bird
- ReaGreek goddess
Swedish nandu
- nanduflightless bird
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with rhea
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
rhea. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhea
“rhea.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhea. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rhea,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhea.
Source: rhea on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.