Messene
/məˈsiːni/noun
An ancient Greek city in the southwestern Peloponnese, also known as Ancient Messene.
Did you know?Messene was traditionally personified as a legendary queen, but the name itself is probably pre-Greek or otherwise of uncertain origin, making its earliest meaning unknown.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Greek period
Unknown
*Messēnē
“An uncertain place-name, possibly inherited from a pre-Greek language”
Mycenaean period
Mycenaean Greek
Uncertain
“No securely identified Linear B form has established the name’s origin”
Ancient Greek
Greek
Μεσσήνη (Messḗnē)
“The name of the city and its legendary female personification”
Classical period
Greek
Μεσσήνη
“A major city founded or refounded by the Theban general Epaminondas in 369 BCE”
Roman period
Latin
Messēnē
“The Latin form of the Greek place-name”
Modern English
English
Messene
“The conventional English name for the ancient archaeological site in Greece”