nanna
noun, proper noun
Forms nannas nana nan
- noun grandmother
- proper noun (Norse mythology) A goddess, the wife of Balder.
- proper noun The god of the moon in Sumerian mythology.
- proper noun A surname from Italian.
Synonyms
Nanna-Suen Sin Suen grandma grandmother granny grannie gran nan
Etymology
Possibly derived from Proto-Celtic *nana (“grandmother”); probably from a Proto-Indo-European root imitative of a child babbling, similar to Ancient Greek νάννα (nánna). See also nanny.
Compare Welsh nain, Sicilian nanna, Italian nonna, Norman nonne, Galician nana, Spanish nana, Old French nonain, Late Latin nonna.
Uncertain, probably from Old Norse Nanna, with Norse levelling of -nþ- to -nn- from Proto-Germanic *nanþ- (“brave, daring”), related to *ninþaną (“to dare”); or possibly from an Old Norse baby talk word for "mother," as in nanna, nanny.
Learned borrowing from Sumerian 𒀭𒋀𒆠 (ᵈnanna /Nanna/).
Borrowed from Italian Nanna.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “nanna”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details