*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Isis

Learned borrowing from Latin Īsis from Ancient Greek Ἶσις (Îsis), from Egyptian st-t:H8-B1 (ꜣst).

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
name

An ancient Egyptian goddess, the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, worshiped as the ideal mother and wife and as the matron of nature and magic; also worshiped by (some) Greeks during the Hellenistic period and featured in Greek mythology, and by Romans involved in what was categorized as the Cult of Isis. · 42 Isis, a main belt asteroid. · A female given name from Egyptian or Ancient Greek.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Learned borrowing from Latin Īsis from Ancient Greek Ἶσις (Îsis), from Egyptian st-t:H8-B1 (ꜣst).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "lbor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "Īsis"
      },
      "expansion": "Learned borrowing from Latin Īsis"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "Ἶσις"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek Ἶσις (Îsis)"
    },
    {
      "name": "egy-h",
      "args": {
        "1": "st-t:H8-B1"
      },
      "expansion": "st-t:H8-B1"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "egy",
        "3": "ꜣst",
        "4": "<hiero>st-t:H8-B1</hiero>",
        "tr": "ꜣst"
      },
      "expansion": "Egyptian st-t:H8-B1 (ꜣst)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Īsis",
      "Isis#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "Ἶσις",
      "Ἶσις#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "st-t:H8-B1",
      "ꜣst#Egyptian"
    ],
    [
      "ꜣst",
      "ꜣst#Egyptian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "An ancient Egyptian goddess, the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, worshiped as the ideal mother and wife and as the matron of nature and magic; also worshiped by (some) Greeks during the Hellenistic period and featured in Greek mythology, and by Romans involved in what was categorized as the Cult of Isis.",
        "42 Isis, a main belt asteroid.",
        "A female given name from Egyptian or Ancient Greek."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Egyptian",
        "uncommon"
      ],
      "recordId": "21df4d62fd3e7e838679698d728627ec47782ade2760efea258fee7bfe8a4240",
      "rawRecordSha256": "dc01783dd5edcbc2980fd354310b87d05f1ca2c7ea3db505bce82dad2bab173e",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 437649
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
name

The River Thames between its source and its confluence with the River Thame at Dorchester on Thames.

name

Ellipsis of HM Prison Isis.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Back-formation of the Latin Tamesis (“Thames”), from the assumption that the word was derived from a compound of Thame (“A tributary of the Thames”) and Isis. The prison was named after the river.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "back-formation",
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Back-formation"
    },
    {
      "name": "derived",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "Tamesis",
        "gloss": "Thames"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin Tamesis (“Thames”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Tamesis",
      "Tamesis#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "Thames",
      "Thames"
    ],
    [
      "Thame",
      "Thame#English"
    ],
    [
      "Isis",
      "Isis#English:_goddess"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "The River Thames between its source and its confluence with the River Thame at Dorchester on Thames."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ],
      "recordId": "10f4ff86f52d559690398957c692804ce7bea89c226f53fd16a130fe816ecfd7",
      "rawRecordSha256": "c024af04af4c05f1c3b460f151f248120569a6eac6a5e5d3e70f52da746ad38a",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 437650
    },
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "Ellipsis of HM Prison Isis."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of",
        "ellipsis"
      ],
      "recordId": "c33a45d3d2c5ca4b7c43210f653280e0ff52515425fb7adda206eb139a635abd",
      "rawRecordSha256": "de52c8ca6c5d9e7e2a2ee1b37caaf14ab64c726e353305a0c4e1a6dc23b1433f",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 437651
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Isis →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-SXNpcw