LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

fīlia

fīlia f (genitive fīliae, masculine fīlius)
Classical[ˈfiː.li.a]Ecclesiastical[ˈfiː.li.a]
№ 909 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. daughter
    Est mihi (sitque, precor, nostrīs diuturnior annīs)I have a daughter (and, I pray, may she live longer than my years); as long as she is safe I shall always be happy.8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 6.219–220
  2. broadlyany female offspring

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

puella, quam pater et māter genuērunt.
fīlia -ae f — in Mille Verba, Domus et Familia

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativefīliafīliae
genitivefīliaefīliārum
dativefīliaefīliīs
fīliābus
accusativefīliamfīliās
ablativefīliāfīliīs
fīliābus
vocativefīliafīliae

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

dotem filiae dare
to give a dowry to one's daughter.
filiam alicui despondere
to betroth one's daughter to some one.
filiam alicui nuptum dare
to give one's daughter in marriage to some-one.
filiam alicui in matrimonium dare
to give one's daughter in marriage to some-one.
filiam alicui in matrimonio or in matrimonium collocare or simply filiam alicui collocare
to give one's daughter in marriage to some-one.

fīlĭa, ae (
I. gen. filiāi, Plaut. Aul. 2, 4, 16 al.; dat. and abl. plur. filiabus, Cato ap. Prisc. p. 733 P.; Liv. 24, 26, 2; Sen. Q. N. 1, 17 fin.; Inscr. Grut. 750, 6; August. C. D. 3, 5; 15, 23; Dig. 30, 15, § 1; 40, 12, 3, § 2; cf. Plin. ap. Charis. p. 103 fin. P.; and filiis, Enn. ap. Prisc. l. l.; Plaut. Stich. 4, 1, 61; id. Poen. 5, 3, 9; Front. Strat. 4, 3, 5; Liv. 38, 57, 2 Drak.; Just. 7, 3, 3; Auct. B. Alex. 33, 2; Aur. Vict. Vir. Ill. 22), f. filius, a daughter: tua reconcilietur uxor, mea necetur filia, Enn. ap. Ruf. § 37 (Trag. v. 267 ed. Vahl.): Numae Pompilii nepos ex filia rex a populo est Ancus Marcius constitutus, Cic. Rep. 2, 18: o matre pulchra filia pulchrior, Hor. C. 1, 16, 1.—In apposition: cum Decimus quidam Verginius virginem filiam ... in foro sua manu interemisset, Cic. Rep. 2, 37: virgo, Ter. Ad. 3, 4, 20; Quint. 9, 2, 70: eam quae nobis adoptione filiae loco esse coeperit, Gai. Inst. 1, 59.—
A. In partic.: filia familias, or, in one word, filiafamilias, v. familia. —
B. Transf., female offspring, offshoot (poet.): Pontica pinus, Silvae filia nobilis, Hor. C. 1, 14, 12; Mart. 14, 90: filiae Picenae porcae, id. 13, 35: Massilia Graium filia, Paul. Nol. Carm. 21, 305.

Origins

From fīlius (“son”). Displaced the Proto-Italic descendant of Proto-Indo-European *dʰugh₂tḗr, which is attested in Oscan 𐌚𐌖𐌕𐌝𐌓 (futír).

Descendants
  • Catalanfilla
  • Italianfiglia
  • Occitanfilha
  • Frenchfillefrom Old French fille
  • Portuguesefilhafrom Old Galician-Portuguese filha
  • Spanishhijafrom Old Spanish fija
  • Romanianfie
  • Sardinianfilla
  • Sardinianfiza
  • Sardinianfitza

Quick answers

What does fīlia mean in Latin?
fīlia, a noun, means “daughter; any female offspring”.
What is the genitive of fīlia?
The genitive singular is fīliae. fīlia is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce fīlia?
In classical Latin, [ˈfiː.li.a]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈfiː.li.a].