From the nounmoneta(“money”), q.v.
Frommonēre(“toadvise, towarn”) +-īta, literally“One who Guides”.[1]
Monēta f sg (genitiveMonētae);first declension
First-declension noun, singular only.
singular | |
---|---|
nominative | Monēta |
genitive | Monētae |
dative | Monētae |
accusative | Monētam |
ablative | Monētā |
vocative | Monēta |
Uncertain. Probably ultimately fromAncient Greekμονήρης(monḗrēs,“solitary,alone,unique”) although frequently conflated with the first etymology since antiquity.Cicero favored a derivation frommonēre with reference to legends that a voice from Juno's temple demanded a sacrifice of a pregnantsow during an earthquake and that the sacred geese of the temple warnedMarcus Manlius Capitolinus of approachingGauls in 390 BC. The ByzantineSuda referenced stories that, when the Romans needed money for war withTarentum andEpirus, Juno's priest had advised that if they conducted themselves with justice then the money would take care of itself. This is now regarded as unlikely, given that Moneta was worshipped at other locations in Italy earlier and only became conflated with Juno once introduced to Rome (cf.evocatio) in the 4th century BC. Other suggested derivations—from Latinmons from the temple's location or from the goddess of memory above because the temple housed Rome's lists of oldconsuls—have the same problem.
Monēta f sg (genitiveMonētae);first declension
First-declension noun, singular only.
singular | |
---|---|
nominative | Monēta |
genitive | Monētae |
dative | Monētae |
accusative | Monētam |
ablative | Monētā |
vocative | Monēta |