mina

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Hindi मैना (mainā)/Urdu مینا (mainā), from Sanskrit मदन (madana).

noun

  1. Alternative spelling of myna

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin mina, from Ancient Greek μνᾶ (mnâ, “mna”). Compare maneh, from Biblical Hebrew מָנֶה (māne), as well as maund.

noun

  1. (historical) A monetary unit of ancient Greece and the Middle East, originally equivalent to the weight of a mina of silver.
    What then of the actual fine of thirty minae Socrates proposes? Thirty minae was a large sum, “the equivalent of approximately eight-and-one-half years′ wages," according to one recent estimate (Brickhouse and Smith 1988, 227); enough to buy a library of three thousand philosophy books, if the price of Anaxogoras′ book is any guide (26d6-e2). 1989, C. D. C Reeve, Socrates in the Apology: An Essay on Plato′s Apology of Socrates, page 174
  2. (historical) A unit of weight of varying value used in the ancient Middle East, especially Babylonia, Mesopotamia and Egypt; also an ancient Greek measure of weight equivalent to 1/60th of a talent.
    Thirty minas of lapis lazuli in a solid block, two minas each their rims, six kor of oil, the capacity of both. 1999, Andrew George, transl., Gilgamesh, section VI

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