Melita

Latin

Alternative forms

• Melitē, Malta

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Μελίτη (Melítē). In reference to Mdina, apparently from its role as the seat of government over the island.

Proper noun

Melita f sg (genitive Melitae); first declension

1. Mdina (a city on the island of Malta, Malta)
2. Malta (The largest island in the Maltese Archipelago)
3. (New Latin) Malta (an island country in Southern Europe)
4. Mljet (an island in the Adriatic Sea, Croatia)

Declension

First-declension noun, with locative, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Melita
Genitive	Melitae
Dative	Melitae
Accusative	Melitam
Ablative	Melitā
Vocative	Melita
Locative	Melitae

Derived terms

• Melitēnsis

Descendants

• → Arabic: مَالِطَا (māliṭā)
  • Maltese: Malta (see there for further descendants)
  • → Ottoman Turkish: مالطه (malta)
    • Turkish: Malta
  • → South Levantine Arabic: مالطا (mālṭa)
• English: Melita
• → Proto-Slavic: *Mьlětъ
  • Serbo-Croatian: Mljet
    • → English: Mljet
    • → Greek: Μλιετ (Mliet)
• Venetan: Meleda
  • → Italian: Meleda
    • → English: Meleda (obsolete)

References

• “Melita”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Melita in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.