Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ishtar

/ˈɪʃtɑɹ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.53 in modern English

Syllables: ishtar
IPA: /ˈɪʃtɑɹ/

9

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war. In the Babylonian pantheon, she was the divine personification of the planet Venus; the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the northwest-Semitic goddess Astarte.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Akkadian 𒀭𒈹 (Ištar). Doublet of Astarte and Ashtoreth. Despite modern folk-etymology, not related in any way to English Easter.

Derived Forms

Fishtar

Questions

How do you pronounce ishtar?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɪʃtɑɹ/.
What does ishtar mean?: A goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war. In the Babylonian pantheon, she was the divine personification of the planet Venus; the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the northwest-Semitic goddess Astarte.
Where does ishtar come from?: Learned borrowing from Akkadian 𒀭𒈹 (Ištar). Doublet of Astarte and Ashtoreth. Despite modern folk-etymology, not related in any way to English Easter.

How to pronounce ishtar

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ishtar”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɪʃtɑɹ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “ishtar”.
Repeat and practice — Say “ishtar” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.