proper noun · femininefirst declension
Maia
Maia f sg (genitive Maiae)
Classical[ˈmaj.ja]Ecclesiastical[ˈmaː.ja]
Meaning
- GreekfemininesingularDaughter of Atlas and mother of Hermes.
- RomanfemininesingularThe goddess of growth after whom the month May (Latin maius) was named.
- femininesingularA star in the constellation Taurus. It is the fourth brightest star in the Pleiades cluster.
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | Maia | — |
| genitive | Maiae | — |
| dative | Maiae | — |
| accusative | Maiam | — |
| ablative | Maiā | — |
| vocative | Maia | — |
maia, ae, f., = μαῖα,
I. a large kind of crab, Plin. 9, 31, 51, § 97; al. maea.
Māia, Māja (written by Cicero Majja, like ejjus, pejjus, etc.;
I. v. the letter J), ae, f., = Μαῖα.
I. Daughter of Atlas and Pleione, and the mother of Mercury by Jupiter, Cic. N. D. 3, 22, 56:
Majā genitum demittit ab alto, i. e. Mercury, Verg. A. 1, 297: Maiā natus, Hor. S. 2, 6, 5; Ov. M. 11, 303; Macr. S. 1, 12, 19; acc. Majam, Ov. F. 4, 174.—As one of the Pleiades: sanctissima Maja, Cic. Arat. 270: multi ante occasum Majae coepere, Verg. G. 1, 225; Ov. F. 4, 174; 5, 85.—II. A daughter of Faunus, Macr. S. 1, 12.
Origins
As a figure of Greek mythology, from Ancient Greek Μαῖα (Maîa, “Maia”), from Ancient Greek μαῖα (maîa, “lady”). As a figure of Roman religion and myth, of uncertain origin, possibly originally a native Latin formation from a feminine suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“great”) (compare Maius as an epithet of Jupiter) that was conflated with the Greek goddess.