entry
anna
/ˈænə/female name; former Indian coin; grain word
From Hebrew ḥnn / Hannah (grace) + Sanskrit anna (food).
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
Word Ancestry
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
from Latin Anna
Two completely different words end up wearing the same neat little spelling coat. One walks in from Hebrew Hannah, carrying the sense of grace; Greek and Latin polished it into Anna, and suddenly you have saints, queens, and countless grandmothers answering to it. The other comes from Sanskrit anna, plain and earthy, meaning food or grain — a reminder that in British India an anna was a coin so small it was practically pocket lint. So if you meet an Anna, you may be meeting either a name born from grace or a word born from bread. English, as usual, took two strangers and filed them under the same label, because why make spelling easy when it can be entertaining?
The Story
Two completely different words end up wearing the same neat little spelling coat. One walks in from Hebrew Hannah, carrying the sense of grace; Greek and Latin polished it into Anna, and suddenly you have saints, queens, and countless grandmothers answering to it. The other comes from Sanskrit anna, plain and earthy, meaning food or grain — a reminder that in British India an anna was a coin so small it was practically pocket lint. So if you meet an Anna, you may be meeting either a name born from grace or a word born from bread. English, as usual, took two strangers and filed them under the same label, because why make spelling easy when it can be entertaining?
Kin & Kindred
From 'ḥnn / Hannah'·grace, graciousness
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'anna'·food, grain
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary