Cynthia

English

Alternative forms

• Cinthia, Cinthya, Cintia, Cintya, Cynthea, Cyntheia, Cynthya, Sinthia, Sintia, Synthea, Synthia, Syntia

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Cynthia, from Ancient Greek Κυνθία (Kunthía), feminine of Κύνθιος (Kúnthios, “Cynthian (of or pertaining to Mount Cynthus, a mountain of Delos, celebrated as the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis)”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sĭnʹthē-ə, IPA^(key): /ˈsɪn.θi.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Cyn‧thi‧a
• Rhymes: -ɪnθiə

Proper noun

Cynthia (plural Cynthias)

1. Artemis (Greek goddess).

   Synonym: Delia

2. (literary) The Moon.

   Synonyms: Luna, Selene

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     As when faire Cynthia, in darkesome night, / Is in a noyous cloud enveloped [...].

   • 1601, Ben Jonson, Hymn to Diana:

     [...] Cynthia's shining orb was made / Heav'n to clear when day did close [...].

3. A female given name from Ancient Greek.
   • 1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, chapter 10, in Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, →OCLC:

     “Cynthia seems to me such an out-of-the-way name, only fit for poetry, not for daily use.”

   • 1978, Graham Greene, The Human Factor, →ISBN, page 59:

     Cynthia, the domestic-minded, looked as dashing as a young commando. It was a pity that her spelling was so bad, but perhaps there was something Elizabethan about her spelling as well as about her name.

   • 1999, Ed McBain, The Big Bad City, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 139:

     Her twin daughters were on the playground equipment. Cynthia and Melinda, reduced to Cindy and Mindy, as Carella had dreaded would happen from the moment she named them.

   • 2021 June 10, Iona Cable, ““Women And Children”: The Role Of Innocence In Human Rights Reporting”, in Human Rights Pulse‎^[1], archived from the original on 10 July 2024:

     This hierarchisation of deaths has been challenged by gender scholars, with Cynthia Enloe coining the notion of “womenandchildren” in her 1990 text "Bananas, Beaches and Bases" to critique the use of this abstract category.

Usage notes

• Popular given name in the US in the 1950s and the 1960s.

Related terms

• Cynthus
• Cynthian

Translations

Artemis

• French:

  Middle French: Cynthie f

• Latin: Cynthia f

female given name

• Arabic: سِينْثِيَا f (sīnṯiyā)
• Azerbaijani: Sintiya
• Bulgarian: Си́нтия f (Síntija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 辛西婭 / 辛西娅 (Xīnxīyà)

• French: Cynthia (fr) f, Cynthie (fr) f
• Greek: Κυνθία (el) f (Kynthía)
• Hungarian: Cintia (hu), Szintia
• Italian: Cinzia (it) f
• Japanese: シンシア (Shinshia)
• Korean: 신시아 (Sinsia)
• Latin: Cynthia f
• Latvian: Sintija f
• Persian: سینتیا
• Polish: Cyntia f
• Portuguese: Cíntia (pt) f
• Russian: Си́нтия f (Síntija)
• Spanish: Cintia (es) f
• Ukrainian: Сінтія f (Sintija)

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English Cynthia.

Proper noun

Cynthia

1. a female given name from Ancient Greek
   • 2012 — Maduguong Fiesta (08 October), SuperBalita

     Nitaho si Cynthia, asawa ni Lando, ngadto sa kapulisan. Apan wa gi-blotter ang iyang sumbong kay nakauna diay si Karyo sa pag-report. Si Lando ang giakusahang nipusil kang Ramon, igsuon sa kapitan ug giingong buhi pa si Lando dihang gitugyan ngadto sa mga barangay tanod.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

French

Alternative forms

• Cynthie, Cinthie (archaic)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin Cynthia.

Pronunciation

• Audio (France):

  (file)

Proper noun

Cynthia f

1. Cynthia

Related terms

• Cynthe
• cynthien

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from English Cynthia, from Latin Cynthia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sinˈti(j)a/

Proper noun

Cynthia

1. a female given name from English [in turn from Latin]

Latin

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Κυνθία (Kunthía, feminine of Κύνθιος (Kúnthios, “Cynthian”, of or pertaining to Mount Cynthus, a mountain of Delos, celebrated as the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis)); morphologically Cynthus (“Cynthus”) +‎ -ia.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkyn.tʰi.a]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡ʃin.ti.a]

Proper noun

Cynthia f (genitive Cynthiae); first declension

1. Artemis (Greek goddess) identified with Diana (Roman goddess)

   Synonym: Dēlia

2. (poetic) the moon
3. a female given name from Ancient Greek
4. Delos

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	Cynthia	Cynthiae
genitive	Cynthiae	Cynthiārum
dative	Cynthiae	Cynthiīs
accusative	Cynthiam	Cynthiās
ablative	Cynthiā	Cynthiīs
vocative	Cynthia	Cynthiae

Related terms

• Cynthius

Descendants

• → English: Cynthia
• → French: (unadapted borrowing) Cynthia
• Italian: Cinzia
• Middle French: Cynthie, Cinthie
  • French: Cynthie
• Portuguese: Cíntia
• Spanish: Cintia

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation 1

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkyn.tʰi.a]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡ʃin.ti.a]

Adjective

Cynthia

1. inflection of Cynthius:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

Pronunciation 2

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkyn.tʰi.aː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡ʃin.ti.a]

Adjective

Cynthiā

1. ablative feminine singular of Cynthius

Portuguese

Proper noun

Cynthia f

1. alternative spelling of Cíntia

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English Cynthia.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈsintia/ [ˈsin̪.t͡ʃɐ]
  • IPA^(key): (no palatal assimilation) /ˈsintia/ [ˈsin̪.t̪jɐ]
• Rhymes: -intia
• Syllabification: Cyn‧thi‧a

Proper noun

Cynthia (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒᜈ᜔ᜆᜒᜌ)

1. a female given name from English