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Everyday LifeGreekEnglish

Thea

/ˈθiːə/proper noun

A given name, standing alone or shortened from Dorothea, Theodora or Althea.

The Greek roots

θεά
theá
goddess

Literally: goddess

Follow a root:θεά1 word

The story of the word

Θεία was a Titan, mother of the sun, the moon and the dawn, while θεά is simply the ordinary noun for a goddess. As a modern name Thea usually arrives as the tail end of Dorothea or Althea. Dorothea and Theodora are the same two pieces in opposite order, gift and god, so the two names mean precisely the same thing.

How it travelled
Ancient Greek → Latin → English

Same family

theologyatheistenthusiasmapotheosis

In a sentence

They shortened Dorothea to Thea before she was a week old.

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