Nineveh

Nineveh

English

Etymology

From Old English Niniue (under influence from Biblical Hebrew נִינְוֵה‎ (nīnəwē)), from Latin Nīnevē, from Ancient Greek Νινευή (Nineuḗ), ultimately from Akkadian 𒌷𒉌𒉡𒀀 𒀏 (Ninua) or Old Babylonian 𒌷𒉌𒉡𒀀 (Ninuwā) of uncertain origin, but is clearly a variation of 𒀏 (Ninâ, literally “fish”).[1] The cuneiform seems to denote "House of Fish", although whether this referred to literal fish, an aspect of Ishtar, a separate Hurrian goddess, or something else entirely is unclear.[2]

The traditional folk etymology in classical antiquity derived it from an eponymous founder Ninus (Greek: Νίνος (Nínos)).[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɪnɪvə/, /ˈnɪnəvə/

Proper noun

Nineveh

1. The ancient capital of Assyria.

Translations

capital of Assyria

Arabic: نِينَوَى‎ (nīnawā) Armenian: Նինվե (Ninve) Burmese: နိနဝေမြို့ (ni.na.we-mrui.) Catalan: Nínive f Chinese: Mandarin: 尼尼微 (Níníwēi, Níníwéi) Danish: Nineve Finnish: Ninive Georgian: ნინევია (ninevia) German: Ninive Greek: Νινευή f (Nineví) Hebrew: נִינְוֵה‎ f (nin'vé)

Irish: Ninivé f Italian: Ninive f Japanese: ニネヴェ (Nineve) Korean: 니네베 (ninebe) Latin: Nīnevē f, Nīnivē f Macedonian: Нинива f (Niníva) Persian: نینوا‎ (fa) (Neynavâ) Polish: Niniwa (pl) f Portuguese: Nínive f Russian: Ниневия (ru) f (Ninevija) Spanish: Nínive (es) f Thai: นิเนเวห์

References

1. Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. "Ninevite, n. and adj." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013.
2. "Nineveh" in the Encyclopaedia Judaica.