Minerva.

Uncertain. Connected with prōmenervō (“to warn”), Faliscan 𐌌𐌄𐌍𐌄𐌓𐌖𐌀 (menerua), Oscan 𐌌𐌄𐌍𐌄𐌓𐌄(𐌅𐌀𐌔) (menere(vas)), Paelignian minerua, and Etruscan 𐌌𐌄𐌍𐌄𐌓𐌅𐌀 (menerva) in some manner. However, the details of the etymology are unclear: * Perhaps from earlier *Meneswā, itself perhaps from *menes-wéh₂, which emerged from *ménos (“mind”). Fortson is, however, skeptical of the connection between the name of this goddess and the root *men- (“to think”), noting that the deity was worshipped at Etruria before reaching Rome and also that her associations with wisdom postdate her equation with Athena. There is possibly a direct parallel in the form of Sanskrit म॒न॒स्विन् (manasvín, “clever, wise”), though Fortson doubts the value of the Sanskrit comparison as it is attested at a late date, and belongs to a highly productive type of adjective formation. Rix has also proposed an Italic sound law whereby *-sw- became *-rw- already within Proto-Italic, in which case the pre-form should be reconstructed as *Menerwā. There is possibly another example in the form of Proto-Italic *katerwā (“company, band of people”). However, the existence of this rule is contentious, with Fortson citing Umbrian mersus (< *medeswos not *mederwos) as possible counterevidence. The raising of *e to i in Latin is perhaps also irregular, though minae attests to the same sound change and—according to De Vaan—there are no inherited sequences of /menV/ in Latin, allowing for the possibility that the phonological development is regular. * Another hypothesis by Clayton (2024) suggests derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ménwr̥ (“thought”), from the same root above. Clayton proposes that the noun was thematicized to *menwr-ā- in pre-Proto-Italic, before then metathesizing into *menrwā, which then evolved into Old Latin Menerva. For a possible example of a similar development, see also Proto-Italic *katerwā, which Clayton alternatively reconstructs as *katr̥wā. * Another theory suggests that the term may derive from Proto-Indo-European *méh₁nos- (“moon”). * Alternatively, the linguist Ranko Matasović considers it most likely that the name was borrowed from Etruscan.