Nineveh

//ˈnɪnɪvə// name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The capital of ancient Assyria, now Mosul, Iraq. historical
  2. 2
    A governorate in Northern Iraq.

Synonyms

All synonyms

Etymology

From Old English Niniuea (under influence from Biblical Hebrew נִינְוֵה (nīnəwē)), from Latin Nīnevē, from Ancient Greek Νινευή (Nineuḗ), ultimately from Akkadian 𒌷𒉌𒉡𒀀 𒀏 (/⁠Ninua⁠/) or Old Babylonian 𒌷𒉌𒉡𒀀 (/⁠Ninuwā⁠/) of uncertain origin, but is clearly a variation of 𒀏 (/⁠ninâ⁠/, “fish”). The cuneiform seems to denote "House of Fish", although whether this referred to literal fish, an aspect of Ishtar, a separate Hurrian goddess, or something else entirely is unclear. The traditional folk etymology in classical antiquity derived it from an eponymous founder Ninus (Greek: Νίνος (Nínos)).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.