Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The chief Sumerian goddess, associated with fertility, the natural world, and war, and later equated with the Babylonian Ishtar.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Sumerian goddess of sexual love, fertility, and warfare. The Akkadians called her Ishtar.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun consort of Dumuzi (Tammuz)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Sumerian in-an-ak, lady of the sky : in, variant of nin, lady + an, sky + -ak, genitive suff.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Sumerian 𒀭𒈹 (DINGIRINANNA).

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Examples

  • Taken that way, Gilgamesh's murder of Inanna is symbolic of his final reconciliation with death; he accepts that he will die, that only his works and his fame will live after him.

    Book Review: Gilgamesh the King 2007

  • The key to interpreting the novel probably lies in Inanna's affliction: when Gilgamesh confronts the priestess for the last time, she is wearing a mask.

    Book Review: Gilgamesh the King 2007

  • The key to interpreting the novel probably lies in Inanna's affliction: when Gilgamesh confronts the priestess for the last time, she is wearing a mask.

    Archive 2007-08-01 2007

  • Taken that way, Gilgamesh's murder of Inanna is symbolic of his final reconciliation with death; he accepts that he will die, that only his works and his fame will live after him.

    Archive 2007-08-01 2007

  • As the Epic of Gilgamesh itself makes clear, Inanna is beautiful and lovely and also dangerous.

    Book Review: Gilgamesh the King 2007

  • As the Epic of Gilgamesh itself makes clear, Inanna is beautiful and lovely and also dangerous.

    Archive 2007-08-01 2007

  • In Sumer, the goddess was known as Inanna, and in Babylon and Assyria, was known as Ishtar.

    Archive 2009-03-01 2009

  • In Sumer, the goddess was known as Inanna, and in Babylon and Assyria, was known as Ishtar.

    Sense & Sensuality 2009

  • Choose from twelve goddesses such as Inanna shown above, Venus and Persephone.

    poetry in motion — and goddesses on the move | the blog of author, illustrator and designer Kris Waldherr 2007

  • The main gods of the Elamites were Humban, the sun god Nahhunte, and Inshushinak, the god of Susa, but Sumerian deities such as Inanna and Nanna were also worshipped.

    b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture 2001

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