noun · femininefirst declension
era
era f (genitive erae, masculine erus)
Classical[ˈɛ.ra]Ecclesiastical[ˈɛː.ra]
Meaning
- femininemistress (of a house, with respect to the servants)
- femininea female ruler or governor; governeress, ruleress, leaderess
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | era | erae herae |
| genitive | erae herae | erārum herārum |
| dative | erae herae | erīs herīs |
| accusative | eram heram | erās herās |
| ablative | erā | erīs herīs |
| vocative | era | erae herae |
ĕra (less correctly, hera; v. erus), ae (archaic
I. gen. sing. ĕrāï, Aus. Idyll. 7, 5), f. erus.
I. Prop., the mistress of a house, with respect to the servants; the mistress, lady: nunquam era errans (i. e. Medea), etc., Enn. ap. Auct. Her. 2, 22, 34 (Trag. v. 287 Vahl.):
servus Dat (puellam) erae suae, Plaut. Cas. prol. 44 sq.; so id. ib. 2, 5, 3; 2, 8, 70; id. Am. 1, 1, 105; Ter. And. 4, 2, 4; id. Eun. 4, 3, 12; 5, 3, 8. So, era major and era minor, the old and young mistress, the lady of the house and her daughter, Plaut. Truc. 4, 3, 22 and 23.—II. Meton., a mistress, female ruler or governor.
A. Of goddesses: domina, era (Minerva), Enn. ap. Ach. Stat. ad Cat. 1, 9 (Vahl. Enn. p. 177, no. 22):
Fortuna, era, Plaut. Merc. 3, 4, 12 dub.; cf.: vosne velit an me regnare era quidve ferat Fors, Enn. ap. Cic. Off. 1, 12, 38 (Ann. v. 203 Vahl.—for which, sit sane Fors domina campi, Cic. Pis. 2, 3): rapidi Tritonis era, i. e. Minerva, Cat. 64, 396: hilarate erae (i. e. Cybeles) citatis erroribus animum, id. 63, 18; so ib. 92: tergeminam tunc placat eram (Hecaten), Val. Fl. 1, 780: noctis eram Ditemque ciens, i. e. Proserpine, id. 7, 313.—Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
era (not hera), ae, f
erus, the mistress of a house, mistress, lady , T.: errans, Enn. ap. C. — A mistress, ruler : era Fors, Enn. ap. C.: Tritonis, Ct.— A sweetheart , O., Ct.
Origins
De Vaan lists the term as a derivative of erus (“master of the family”), in which case presumably from erus + -a. Adams and Mallory suggest a possible derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₁esh₂éh₂, itself related to Proto-Indo-European *h₁esh₂ós. This theory is premised on the cognancy of Hittite išḫāš and Hittite išḫaššaraš (“lady, mistress”).