Mina
Origin 1
From Hindi maina "starling", from Sanskrit madana.
Origin 2
From Latin mina, from Ancient Greek μνᾶ ("mna"). Compare maneh, from Classical Hebrew ×žÖ¸× Ö¶×” ("mane"), as well as maund, ultimately from Arabic مَنّ ("mann")
Noun
- (historical) A monetary unit of ancient Greece and the Middle East, originally equivalent to the weight of a mina of silver. From 15th C.
- 1989, C. D. C Reeve, Socrates in the Apology: An Essay on Plato′s Apology of Socrates, page 174,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 libary of three thousand philosophy books, if the price of Anaxogoras′ book is any guide (26d6-e2).
- (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. From 16th C.
- 1999, Andrew George, translating Gilgamesh, VI:Thirty minas of lapis lazuli in a solid block, two minas each their rims, six kor of oil, the capacity of both.