Deae

Deae is a Latin term that appears in two common forms with distinct grammatical roles. It is the nominative plural of the noun dea, meaning goddess, and it is also the genitive singular of dea. Because Latin relies on word endings to signal function, deae can indicate “the goddesses” when used as a subject or predicate, or “of the goddess” when used to show possession in phrases such as templum deae or cultus deae.

Morphology and usage

As dea, a first-declension feminine noun, dea has the following relevant forms: nominative plural deae (the goddesses) and genitive singular deae (of the goddess). The same spelling, deae, therefore appears in two different syntactic roles depending on context. In inscriptions and literary Latin, deae frequently heads phrases referring to multiple goddesses or to a single goddess in a possessive construction, such as templa deae (temples of the goddess) or cultus deae (worship of the goddess).

Etymology

The word dea is the Latin feminine form related to the masculine deus (god). The pair dea/deus belongs to a broader Indo-European root chain for deity, with cognates in other languages such as Greek thea (goddess). Dea thus forms part of the common Latin vocabulary for divine beings, and deae functions as its plural or possessive form in ordinary usage.

In modern reference works, deae is encountered mainly in the study of Latin grammar, classical Latin texts, and epigraphy. It is not a standalone modern English term, but rather a Latin word that appears in phrases describing goddess figures and their domains.

See also: Deus, Thea, Latin declension, goddess in classical religion.