नमस्

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *námas (“homage, salutation”), from Proto-Indo-European *némos (“bowing”).

Cognate with Avestan 𐬥𐬆𐬨𐬀𐬢𐬵𐬋 (nəmaŋhō), Sogdian [script needed] (namāč, “homage; prayer; reverence”), Persian نماز (namâz, “prayer, worship”), Ancient Greek νέμος (némos). The Sanskrit root is नम् (nam) .

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /nɐ́.mɐs/
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈn̪ɐ.mɐs̪/

नमस् • (námas) stem, n

1. bow, obeisance, homage, adoration; greeting, salutation [+dative]
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.27.13:

     नमो॑ म॒हद्भ्यो॒ नमो॑ अर्भ॒केभ्यो॒ नमो॒ युव॑भ्यो॒ नम॑ आशि॒नेभ्यः॑ ।
     यजा॑म दे॒वान्यदि॑ श॒क्नवा॑म॒ मा ज्याय॑सः॒ शंस॒मा वृ॑क्षि देवाः ॥

     námo mahádbhyo námo arbhakébhyo námo yúvabhyo náma āśinébhyaḥ.
     yájāma devā́nyádi śaknávāma mā́ jyā́yasaḥ śáṃsamā́ vṛkṣi devāḥ.

     Homage to the mighty and homage to the lesser [gods]; homage to the younger and homage to the elder [gods]!
     Let us, if we have power, pay the gods worship: no better prayer than this, you gods, acknowledge.

   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 5.73.10:

     इ॒मा ब्रह्मा॑णि॒ वर्ध॑ना॒श्विभ्यां॑ सन्तु॒ शंत॑मा ।
     या तक्षा॑म॒ रथाँ॑ इ॒वावो॑चाम बृ॒हन्नमः॑ ॥

     imā́ bráhmāṇi várdhanāśvíbhyāṃ santu śáṃtamā.
     yā́ tákṣāma ráthām̐ ivā́vocāma bṛhánnámaḥ.

     Most pleasing to the Aśvins be these prayers which magnify their might,
     Which we have fashioned, even as chariots high homage have we spoken forth.

   • c. 400 BCE, Mahābhārata 14.8.31.1:

     एवं कृत्वा नमस्तस्मै महादेवाय रंहसे ।

     evaṃ kṛtvā namastasmai mahādevāya raṃhase.

     Having done thus, I [give] homage to the great god, Shiva.

2. food

   Synonyms: भोजन (bhojana), खादन (khādana), भक्षण (bhakṣaṇa), आश (āśa); see also Thesaurus:खान

   • c. 700 BCE – 500 BCE, Yāska, Naighaṇṭuka 2.7
3. thunderbolt

   Synonyms: वज्र (vajra), हीर (hīra)

   • c. 700 BCE – 500 BCE, Yāska, Naighaṇṭuka 2.20
4. gift, present

• Prakrit: 𑀡𑀫𑁄 (ṇamo)
• Pali: namo
• → Chinese: 南無／南无
• → Japanese: 南無
• → Vietnamese: nam mô

• Monier Williams (1899) “नमस्”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 528, column 1.
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “namas”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 400
• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “नमस्”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan, page 878
• Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1893) “नमस्”, in A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout, London: Oxford University Press, page 136
• Hellwig, Oliver (2010-2024) “namas”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.