Diana
/daɪˈænə/noun
A Roman goddess associated with the moon, hunting, wild nature, and childbirth, also used as a personal name.
Did you know?Roman writers identified Diana with the Greek goddess Artemis, but her worship also included the famous sanctuary at Lake Nemi, where a priest called the Rex Nemorensis served the goddess.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dyew-
“To shine; the bright sky or daylight—a reconstructed root associated with divinity and the heavens.”
Proto-Italic
Proto-Italic
*diwāna
“A reconstructed feminine divine name, probably meaning something like “divine one”; the precise development is debated.”
Ancient Latin
Latin
dīvus
“Godlike, divine, or belonging to a god; a related form within the ancient Indo-European sky-and-divinity vocabulary.”
3rd–2nd Century BCE
Latin
Diana
“The name of a major Roman goddess, associated with forests, hunting, childbirth, and later the moon.”
Medieval Latin
Latin
Diana
“The Roman goddess’s name, preserved in classical and Christian-era writing and sometimes connected with beliefs about witches or nocturnal spirits.”
Modern English
English
Diana
“A feminine given name and the traditional English name of the Roman goddess.”