Deipara

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Deipara, from Deus (“god”) +‎ pariō (“I bear [offspring]”) +‎ -us (suffix forming adjectives), calque of Koine Greek Θεοτόκος (Theotókos, “birth-giver of God”).

Proper noun

(the) Deipara

1. (Christianity) Synonym of Mary, mother of Jesus, in particular reference to her role giving birth to God.

   Synonyms: Mother of God, Theotokos

   • 1866, John Henry Newman, D.D., A Letter to the Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D. on His Recent Eirenicon, London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, page 66:

     It is then an integral portion of the Faith fixed by Ecumenical Council, a portion of it which you hold as well as I, that the Blessed Virgin is Theotocos, Deipara, or Mother of God; and this word, when thus used, carries with it no admixture of rhetoric, no taint of extravagant affection,—it has nothing else but a well-weighed, grave, dogmatic sense […]

Translations

Mary, mother of Jesus — see Mother of God,‎ Theotokos

Further reading

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “Deipara”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

Latin

Etymology

From Deus (“god”) +‎ pariō (“I bear [offspring]”) +‎ -us (suffix forming adjectives); calque of Koine Greek Θεοτόκος (Theotókos, “birth-giver of God”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /deˈi.pa.ra/, [d̪eˈɪpärä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈi.pa.ra/, [d̪eˈiːpärä]

Noun

Deipara f sg (genitive Deiparae); first declension

1. (Christianity) God-bearer; Birth-giver of God; Mother of God. Specially referring to the Virgin Mary.
   • ~VI century, St. Sophronius of Jerusalem, Prayer of St. Sophronius to the Blessed Virgin Mary :

     ...Vere benedicta tu in mulieribus, quia, mulier naturali condicione cum sis, Dei tamen Genetrix re ipsa fies. Etenim si qui ex te nasciturus est, secundum veritatem, Deus est incarnatus, ipsa iure meritoque diceris Deipara, quippe quae Deum verissime paris. Amen.

     ...Truly, thou are blessed among women, for, though just a woman by nature, thou wilt become, in reality, the Mother of God. If He whom thou art to bear is truly God made flesh, then rightly do we call thee, Mother of God, for thou hast truly given birth to God. Amen.

Declension

First-declension noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Deipara
Genitive	Deiparae
Dative	Deiparae
Accusative	Deiparam
Ablative	Deiparā
Vocative	Deipara

Descendants

All borrowed.

• → English: Deipara
• → Portuguese: Deípara
• → Spanish: Deípara

See also

• Mater Dei
• Dei Genetrix
• Beata Virgo Maria