Rhea
RHEE-uh
Genus
Rhea — the large flightless birds of South America, named after the Titan goddess Rhea of Greek mythology
Literally: Rhea (a kind of bird; the Titan goddess)
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhea | A kind of bird | New Latin (rhe, =a) | New Latin genus name, feminine singular, used as a standalone noun (=a ending). The name simultaneously honours Rhea, the Titan goddess of Greek mythology (mother of Zeus and the Olympians), whose name in Greek (rhe, =a, -o) also carries the sense of 'a flow, current' (from Greek rhein, to flow). The exact mythological motivation given by Möhring (1752) is uncertain, but the divine name was the intended allusion. |
A single-word genus name treated as a feminine Latin noun in the nominative singular. As a genus name it stands alone; species epithets (e.g. Rhea americana, Rhea pennata) must agree in gender (feminine) or be a genitive or noun in apposition. The New Latin form rhea is derived directly from the Greek proper name Rhea (a Titan), giving the genus an effectively mythological etymology, even though the dictionary also records rhe, =a as a New Latin term meaning simply 'a kind of bird'.
Pronunciation
- RHEE-uh Two-syllable word: stress falls on the penult (Rule 1). The penult vowel 'e' is followed directly by the final vowel 'a', making it long ('ee'). Initial 'rh' is pronounced as plain 'r' (the 'h' is silent in classical scientific pronunciation). Final 'a' is short 'uh'.
Other readings
Greek rhe, =a, -o ('a flow, current') — phonetically identical but semantically the mythological reading is the accepted one for the avian genus
Middle Latin rhe, =um ('rhubarb') shares the stem rhe- but is unrelated and terminated differently
The genus Rhea was established by Pieter Möhring (1752) and validated by Brisson (1760); it contains the greater rhea (Rhea americana) and is the type genus of the family Rheidae. The mythological Rhea (Greek Τitaness, daughter of Uranus and Gaia, mother of the twelve Olympians) does not appear as a separate entry in the dictionary, but the NL entry 'rhe, =a: A kind of bird' confirms the direct dictionary authority for the genus name. A moon of Saturn is also named Rhea, after the same Titan goddess. No OCR corrections were needed; no roots are missing from the dictionary for this name.