Magna Mater
/ˌmæɡ.nə ˈmɑː.tər/noun
A Latin title meaning the Great Mother, especially the Roman goddess Cybele and her cult.
Did you know?In 204 BCE, Rome officially imported the Magna Mater cult from Anatolia, bringing a sacred black stone believed to embody the goddess herself.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*meǵh₂-
“Great or mighty; the reconstructed root behind Latin magnus.”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*méh₂tēr
“Mother; the ancestral form behind Latin māter and related words across Indo-European languages.”
Classical Latin
Latin
magna mater
“Great Mother; a divine title formed from the feminine adjective magna and noun mater.”
Hellenistic Period
Greek
Μήτηρ Μεγάλη (Mētēr Megálē)
“Great Mother; the Greek title associated with the Anatolian mother goddess later identified with Cybele.”
204 BCE
Latin
Magna Mater deum Idaea
“Great Mother of the Idaean gods; the official Roman cult title after the goddess’s sacred stone was brought from Pessinus.”
Modern English
English
Magna Mater
“A historical Latin name for Cybele, and more broadly a title for a supreme mother goddess.”