LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

iānua

iānua f (genitive iānuae)
Classical[ˈjaː.nu.a]Ecclesiastical[ˈjaː.nu.a]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. any double-doored entrance (e.g. a domestic door or a gate to a temple or city)
  2. an entrance, entry, access

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

ōstium domūs: per iānuam in domum intrāmus; claudī et aperīrī potest.
iānua -ae f — in Mille Verba, Domus et Familia

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Ostium · Janua · Fores · Valvæ

Ostium and janua denote the door, as the opening through which one goes in and out; ostium, as the most general expression for any door, like θύρα; janua, as a particular expression only for a house-door; whereas fores and valvæ denote the leaves of a door, which serve to close the opening; fores, of ordinary doors, like θυρίδες; valvæ, of stately buildings and temples, as double or folding doors. Tac. Ann. xiv. 8. Anicetus refracta janua obvios servorum adripit, donec ad fores cubiculi veniret. (v. 214.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeiānuaiānuae
genitiveiānuaeiānuārum
dativeiānuaeiānuīs
accusativeiānuamiānuās
ablativeiānuāiānuīs
vocativeiānuaiānuae

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

ianuam effringere, revellere
to burst open the door.

jānŭa, ae, f. Janus, i. e. ianus, from i, ire; cf. Sanscr. yāna, itio, incessus, from yā, ire,
I. a door, house-door.
I. Lit.: principem in sacrificando Janum esse voluerunt, quod ab eundo nomen est ductum: ex quo transitiones perviae, jani; foresque in liminibus profanarum aedium januae nominantur, Cic. N. D. 2, 27, 67: claudere, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 26, § 66: januam occludere, Plaut. Aul. 1, 2, 11: pultare, id. Poen. 3, 4, 30: ante ostium et januam, id. Pers. 5, 1, 6: indiligenter observare, id. As. 2, 2, 7: reserare, Ov. H. 4, 141: frangere, Hor. S. 1, 2, 128.—The dog was commonly chained there; hence, janua mordax, Plaut. Truc. 2, 4, 1; cf. id. Most. 3, 2, 126 sq.—
B. Transf., an entrance of any sort: inferni janua regis, Verg. A. 6, 106; cf.: atri janua Ditis, id. ib. 6, 127: mortis, Sil. 11, 187: leti, Val. Fl. 4, 23: cum eam urbem sibi Mithridates Asiae januam fore putasset, the key of Asia, Cic. Mur. 15, 33: hic locus est gemini janua vasta maris, Ov. Tr. 1, 10, 32.—
II. Trop., an entrance, approach: qua nolui janua sum ingressus in causam, Cic. Planc. 3, 8: facillime vos ad ea, quae cupitis, perventuros, ab hoc aditu januaque patefacta, id. de Or. 1, 47, 204: illa januam Famae patefecit, Plin. Ep. 1, 18, 4; Val. Fl. 4, 231: vultus ac frons, quae est animi janua, Q. Cic. Pet. Cons. 11, 44: ego sum ostium, Vulg. Johan. 10, 2.

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂-der. Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂-no- Latin ianua From Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂- (“to go, go in, travel”). Cognate with Old Church Slavonic ꙗдо (jado, “to travel”) and Sanskrit यान (yāna, “path”).

Insular Romance
  • Sardinianjanna
  • Sardinianzanna
Vulgar Latin
  • Sardiniangennafrom unknown *ienua
  • Sardinianennafrom unknown *ienua
  • unknown*iānuella
  • Franco-Provençalgennefrom unknown *ienua
  • Franco-Provençaldjemmefrom unknown *ienua
  • Franco-Provençaljaimefrom unknown *ienua
  • Romanshdźəinəfrom unknown *ienua
  • Romanshdźe̢nəfrom unknown *ienua
  • Romanshdze̢nnafrom unknown *ienua
  • Romanshdźe̢nafrom unknown *ienua
Borrowings
  • Italianianua
Italo-Romance
  • Old Neapolitanjanuwa
  • Sicilianjanua
Gallo-Romance
  • Gasconjan
  • Gasconjanc
Ibero-Romance
  • Mozarabicיאנה

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesJanuaJanua (θύρα), a door. Besides being applicable to the doors of apartments in the interior of a house, which were properly called ostia (Isid. Orig. 15…

Quick answers

What does iānua mean in Latin?
iānua, a noun, means “any double-doored entrance (e.g. a domestic door or a gate to a temple or city); an entrance, entry, access”.
What is the genitive of iānua?
The genitive singular is iānuae. iānua is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce iānua?
In classical Latin, [ˈjaː.nu.a]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈjaː.nu.a].