LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

habēna

habēna f (genitive habēnae)
Classical[haˈbeː.na]Ecclesiastical[aˈbɛː.na]

Meaning

  1. thong, strap; shoestrings, shoelaces
    Near-synonyms: lōrum, ligula /lingula, āmentum
  2. in pluralreins of a bridle
    Coordinate term: frēnum
  3. in pluralcommandement, direction, sway, dominion
    habēnās dāre/immitere/linquereto confide/hand/leave the government of
    [...] Rēgemque dedit quī foedere certōAnd [Jupiter] gave [the winds] a king who by chartered agreement would know how to restrain as well as to give loosened reins [to them], [the king] having been commanded [to do so]. (Jupiter commands King Aeolus who metaphorically can harness the winds much as a charioteer drives horses. See Aeolus (son of Hippotes).)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.62–63
  4. lash, whip, scourge
  5. sheet
  6. rarea small strip of diseased flesh cut out from the body

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Frenum · Habena · Oreæ

1. Frenum (from φράξαι?) is the bridle with which the rider breaks the wild horse, like χαλινός; whereas habena (from hebes, χαβός, κάμψαι,) the rein with which he turns the obedient horse, like ἡνίον. Hor. Ep. i. 15, 13. Læva stomachosus habena dicet eques; sed equi frenato est auris in ore; that is, he minds not the reins, and must feel the bit. Cic. Orat. i. 53. Senatum servire populo, cui populus ipse moderandi et regendi sui potestatem quasi quasdam habenas tradidisset: comp. with Tac. Dial. 38. Pompeius adstrinxit, imposuitque quasi frenos eloquentiæ. 2. Oreæ, aureæ, now only to be found in auriga, were, perhaps, the generic term of frenum and habena, like harness. (v. 137.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativehabēnahabēnae
genitivehabēnaehabēnārum
dativehabēnaehabēnīs
accusativehabēnamhabēnās
ablativehabēnāhabēnīs
vocativehabēnahabēnae

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

habenas adducere
to tighten the reins.
habenas permittere
to slacken the reins.
freno remisso; effusis habenis
with loose reins.

hăbēna, ae, f. habeo; lit., that by which a thing is held; hence, in partic.,
I. a thong, strap.
I. Lit.: ille (turbo) actus habenā, Verg. A. 7, 380: cum jaculum parvā Libys amentavit habenā, Luc. 6, 221: Balearis tortor habenae, id. 3, 710: in scalis latuit metuens pendentis habenae, i. e. of the whip-lash, whip, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 15: molles galeae habenae, Val. Fl. 6, 365: plantarum calces tantum infimae teguntur: cetera prope nuda et teretibus habenis vincta sunt, shoestrings, Gell. 13, 21, 5.—
B. Esp., a rein (usually in plur.; cf.: lorum, corrigia): exhortatur equos, quorum per colla jubasque Excutit habenas, Ov. M. 5, 404; cf.: omnes effundit habenas, Verg. A. 5, 818; so of the reins, id. ib. 10, 576; 11, 600; 670; 765 et saep.: quam potuit effusissimis habenis, stationem hostium invadit, Liv. 37, 20, 10.—Poet.: pedes aequat habenas, the riders, Val. Fl. 6, 95.—
II. Transf.
A. A small strip of diseased flesh cut out from the body: tenuis excidenda habena est, Cels. 7, 17 fin.; cf.: habenula.—Far more freq.,
B. In gen., a rein; also abstr., direction, management, government: quis regere immensi summam, quis habere profundi indu manu validas potis est moderanter habenas? Lucr. 2, 1096: fluminibus vestris totas immittite habenas, give the reins to, Ov. M. 1, 280; Val. Fl. 6, 391: (ventis) regem dedit, qui foedere certo Et premere et laxas sciret dare jussus habenas, Verg. A. 1, 63: furit immissis Vulcanus habenis, id. ib. 5, 662: classique immittit habenas, id. ib. 6, 1; cf. Lucr. 5, 787; Verg. G. 2, 364: vates rege vatis habenas, Ov. F. 1, 25: legum, Poët. ap. Cic. de Or. 3, 41, 166: commodissimum est quam laxissimas habenas habere amicitiae, quas vel adducas cum velis vel remittas, Cic. Lael. 13, 45: alicui moderandi et regendi sui potestatem quasi quasdam habenas tradere, id. de Or. 1, 52, 226; id. Rep. 1, 5: accepisse Numam populi Latialis habenas, Ov. M. 15, 481; cf. also: rerumque reliquit habenas, Verg. A. 7, 600: linquam datas habenas, Val. Fl. 1, 560: irarumque omnes effundit habenas, Verg. A. 12, 499.—In sing.: Latiae diffisus habenae, i. e. of the Roman dominion, Sil. 13, 34; Gell. 14, 1, 4.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʰeh₁bʰ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti
  3. Proto-Italic*haβēō
  4. Latinhabēna

Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Latin -na Latin habēna From habeō + -na.

Descendants
  • Proto-Brythonic*aβuɨn

In English words that came into English from habēna

  • habenulahabenula
  • habenahabēna

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesHabenaHabena or--AE (mostly plural: τὰ ἡνία, αἱ ἡνίαι) was, generally speaking, a leathern thong, by means of which things were held, bound, drawn, or faste…

Quick answers

What does habēna mean in Latin?
habēna, a noun, means “thong, strap; shoestrings, shoelaces; reins of a bridle”.
What is the genitive of habēna?
The genitive singular is habēnae. habēna is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce habēna?
In classical Latin, [haˈbeː.na]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [aˈbɛː.na].
Where does habēna come from?
Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- → Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti → Proto-Italic *haβēō → Latin habēna.