Word
anna
Phoneticsan·na
US/ˈænə/
UK/ˈænɐ/
Definitions
01female name
n. a very common name for a woman or girl.
n. a female given name of Hebrew origin, meaning 'grace' or 'favour', widely used across many cultures.
“Anna is starting her new job at the hospital tomorrow morning.”
“The protagonist, Anna, navigates the complexities of nineteenth-century society with a resilience that defines the entire novel.”
02historical coin
n. an old coin from India that was worth one-sixteenth of a rupee.
n. a former currency unit of India and Pakistan, representing one-sixteenth of a rupee. The term is now obsolete in official contexts but survives in historical literature.
“The museum displayed an old silver anna from the nineteenth century.”
“The ledger recorded the transaction in rupees and annas, reflecting the colonial monetary system of the period.”
Archaic · Technical
Etymology
From Late Latin Anna both directly and via numerous other languages, chiefly in reference to St Anne the apocryphal mother of Mary mother of Jesus but appearing in the Vulgate in reference to Anne the Prophetess, from Koine Greek Ἄννα (Ánna) in the New Testament, from Hebrew חַנָּה (Ḥannâ, “Hannah”), from חַנָּה (ḥannâ, “grace, gracious, graced with child”). As a city in Illinois, named for Anna Davie, wife of one of the initial settlers. Doublet of Ann, Anne, Ana, and Hannah.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/anna