Mona Lisa
/ˌməʊnə ˈliːzə/US/ˌmoʊnə ˈlisə/
Mona Lisa proper noun: a portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci, widely considered to be the most famous painting in history.
Proper noun
(the) Mona Lisa (plural Mona Lisas)
- A portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci, widely considered to be the most famous painting in history.
- For centuries, the Mona Lisa was a relatively obscure painting languishing in the private residences of kings—still a masterpiece, to be sure, but only one among many. Even when it was moved to the Louvre, after the French Revolution, it did not attract as much attention as the works of other...2011, Duncan J. Watts, Everything is Obvious, Crown Business, →ISBN, page 56
- If one were to ask the rhetorical question as to why one of the two original Mona Lisas has columns, and the other does not, the logical answer is that they are two separate compositions – with certain deliberate similarities, and with certain distinct differences of which only the artist was aware...2012, “[Connoisseurship: Critical Comparisons] The Vital Importance of the Columns”, in Mona Lisa: Leonardo’s Earlier Version, The Mona Lisa Foundation, →ISBN, page 204, column 1
- The subject of the painting, Lisa del Giocondo, née Gherardini (1479–1542).
- Beltraffio knew that she was a Napoletana, of an ancient family, the daughter of Antonio Gerardini, a grandee who had at one time been wealthy, but who had become ruined during the French invasion of 1495; and the wife of the Florentine citizen, Francesco dell' Giocondo, who had married Mona Lisa...1961, Orville Prescott, The Undying Past, page 304
Noun
Mona Lisa (plural Mona Lisas)
- A masterpiece, an outstanding work.
- This small and deceptively simple, but extremely interesting molecular system was rightly characterized by Cram and coworkers as ‘The Mona Lisa of Organic Chemistry’, because of its ability to elicit wonder, to stimulate imagination and, last but not least, by its enigmatic elusiveness and numerous...2005, Zvi Rappoport, Joel F. Liebman, The Chemistry of Cyclobutanes, page 18
- I told him I didn't care if the painting was a Mona Lisa or pure nonsense, I just wanted him to have the experience of painting on canvas.2007, Tiffany Christensen, Sick girl speaks!: lessons and ponderings along the road to acceptance, page 128
- A woman who resembles the subject of this painting, renowned for her beauty and enigmatic smile.
- She let him take it and sat on, smiling very faintly. It was a Mona Lisa effort.1972, John Newton Chance, The dead tale-tellers, page 111
- […]found Florence Thompson, the Mona Lisa of the 1930s, a migrant mother whose picture haunted the nation.1985, Bob Dotson, ...In pursuit of the American dream, page 4
- Synonyms:
- Joconde
Mona Lisa meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
Mona Lisa in Hindi
- portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- मोना लीज़ा monā līzā
Mona Lisa in Tamil
- portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- மோனா லிசா mōṉā licā, லா ஜியோகொண்டா lā jiyōkoṇṭā
Mona Lisa in Marathi
- portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- मोनालिसा monālisā
Mona Lisa in Urdu
- portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- مونا لیزا Mōnā Līzā
More languagesFewer languages
- Mona Lisa in Bengali
- মোনা লিসা mōna liśa, মোনালিসা mōnaliśa
- Mona Lisa in Telugu
- మోనాలిసా mōnālisā
- Mona Lisa in Malayalam
- മോണാലിസ mōṇālisa
- Mona Lisa in Kannada
- ಮೋನ ಲೀಸ mōna līsa, ಲ ಗಿಯೊಕೊಂಡ la giyokoṇḍa, ಲ ಜೊಕೊಂದೆ la jokonde
- Mona Lisa in Punjabi
- ਮੋਨਾ ਲੀਜ਼ਾ monā līzā
- Mona Lisa in Gujarati
- મોના લીસા monā līsā
- Mona Lisa in Odia
- ମୋନାଲିସା monālisā
- Mona Lisa in Sinhala
- මොනාලිසා monālisā, ලා ජියොකොන්ඩා lā jiyokonḍā
- Mona Lisa in Assamese
- মনালিছা monalisa
- Mona Lisa in Nepali
- मोना लिजा monā lijā, ला जोक्कोन्दा lā jokkondā, ला झोकोंद lā jhokonda
- Mona Lisa in Arabic
- الْمُونَّالِيزَا al-mūnnālīzā, الْجِيُوكَانْدَا al-jiyūkāndā
- Mona Lisa in Persian
- مونالیزا monâlizâ, لبخند ژوکوند labxand žokond
- Mona Lisa in Thai
- โมนาลิซา moo-naa lí-saa, ลาโจกอนดา laa joo-gɔɔn-daa, ลาโชกงด์ laa choo-gongd
- Mona Lisa in Myanmar
- မိုနာလီဆာ muinalihca
Examples of Mona Lisa in a sentence
- For centuries, the Mona Lisa was a relatively obscure painting languishing in the private residences of kings—still a masterpiece, to be sure, but only one among many.2011, Duncan J. Watts, Everything is Obvious, Crown Business, →ISBN, page 56:
- These points will be considered in both Mona Lisas painted by Leonardo and in the model of the hidden portrait, seen in Figure 34.2022, Beatriz M. Mikusinski Zawislak, translated by Adriana Krainski, Mona Lisa and Her Mysteries, Editora AGE, →ISBN, page 97:
- Now, in fifth grade, I’m still drawing stick figures and she’s making Mona Lisas.2021, Kate Biberdorf, Hillary Homzie, “An Educated Guess”, in The Birthday Blastoff, Philomel Books, →ISBN, page 10:
- He smiled what felt like a Mona Lisa smile[…]2000, Edward A. Molnar, Shadows on a Mirror, page 188:
Synonyms of Mona Lisa
Forms of Mona Lisa
| Proper noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | Mona Lisas |
| alternative form (rare) | Monna Lisa |
| Noun | |
| plural | Mona Lisas |
Origin of Mona Lisa
Borrowed from Italian Monna Lisa (literally “my lady Lisa”), from monna (abbreviation of madonna) + Lisa, the given name of Lisa del Giocondo, née Gherardini (1479–1542).
Words formed from Mona Lisa
Words that rhyme with Mona Lisa
Questions about Mona Lisa
- What does Mona Lisa mean?
- Mona Lisa means a portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci, widely considered to be the most famous painting in history.
- What is Mona Lisa in Hindi?
- Mona Lisa in Hindi is मोना लीज़ा (monā līzā). See Mona Lisa meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use Mona Lisa in a sentence?
- For centuries, the Mona Lisa was a relatively obscure painting languishing in the private residences of kings—still a masterpiece, to be sure, but only one among many.
- What part of speech is Mona Lisa?
- Mona Lisa can be a proper noun or a noun.
- How do you pronounce Mona Lisa?
- Mona Lisa is pronounced /ˌməʊnə ˈliːzə/ (UK).
Words near Mona Lisa in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Mona Lisa (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Mona Lisa.wav.
Cite this entry: “Mona Lisa.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mona_lisa. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.