Sofia
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Sofia¹
- /ˈsoʊfiə/ US
- /ˈsoʊfijə/ US
- /ˈsəʊfi.ə/ UK
- /sɒˈfiːə/ UK
Rhymes with -əʊfiə
Where it comes from
Variant spelling of Sophia and from various other languages' own adaptations of Ancient Greek Σοφία (Sophía, “wisdom, especially divine wisdom”). Sometimes borrowed into English as an anglicization of an accented or closely related form, as with Spanish Sofía, Welsh Soffia, and Hungarian Zsófia.
As the capital of Bulgaria, via nonstandard, though now official, romanization of Bulgarian Со́фия (Sófija), from църква „Света София“ (cărkva „Sveta Sofija“), from Medieval Greek Ναός Ἁγίας Σοφίας (Naós Hagías Sophías, “Church of Holy Wisdom”), the city's prominent 6th-century Byzantine Greek church, first attested being used as the name for the city in the 14th century and reinforced under Ottoman rule as Ottoman Turkish صوفیه (Sofya). Compare the name of the Hagia Sophia.
proper noun Sofya
- A female given name, variant of Sophia. Every year in California thousands of parents choose names such as José, Andrés and Sofía for their children, often honoring the memory of a deceased grandmother, aunt or sibling. On the state-issued birth certificates, though, those names will be spelled incorrectly.
- The capital city of Bulgaria.
- The Bulgarian government.
Similar: Serdica, Serdonpolis, Triaditza, Sredets
Sofia²
- /ˈsoʊfiə/ US
- /ˈsoʊfijə/ US
- /ˈsəʊfi.ə/ UK
- /sɒˈfiːə/ UK
Rhymes with -əʊfiə
Where it comes from
From Malagasy Sofia of uncertain origin. The region is named for the river.
proper noun
- A river in northwestern Madagascar.
- A region of Madagascar around the river.
SOFIA³
proper noun
- Acronym of Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, a telescope atop a Boeing 747SP aircraft with an effective diameter of 2.5 meters at altitudes up to 13.7 kilometers.
- Acronym of Surround Optical Fiber Immunoassay
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: bulgarian capital, bulgaria, bulgarian, varna, sylvia, james, sofa, sophia, sofie, sufa, knowledge, sagacity, insight, discernment, understanding, intelligence
proper noun
Similar: Serdica, Serdonpolis, Triaditza, Sredets
Translations
Talk about this word "Sofia." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sofia. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. Sofia. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sofia "Sofia." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sofia.Cite this
@misc{sofia_2026,
title = {Sofia},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sofia},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
