नाग

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit नाग (nāga).

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /nɑːɡ/, [näːɡ]

नाग • (nāg) m (Urdu spelling ناگ)

1. male serpent

   Synonyms: साँप (sā̃p), सर्प (sarp)

2. (specifically) Indian cobra, Naja naja

   Synonym: भुजंग (bhujaṅg)

3. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) naga

• नागिन (nāgin)
• नागिनी (nāginī)

• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “नाग”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press

Borrowed from Sanskrit नाग (nāga), through Old Marathi 𑘡𑘰𑘐 (nāga).

• IPA^(key): /naɡ/

नाग • (nāg) m (feminine नागीण)

1. a male serpent

   Synonyms: साप (sāp), सर्प (sarpa)

2. (specifically) Indian cobra, Naja naja

   Synonym: भुजंग (bhujaṅga)

3. (Hinduism, Buddhism) naga

• Molesworth, James Thomas (1857) “नाग”, in A dictionary, Marathi and English, Bombay: Printed for government at the Bombay Education Society's Press
• Shankar Gopal Tulpule, Anne Feldhaus (1999) “नाग”, in A Dictionary of Old Marathi, Mumbai: Popular Prakashan

नाग m

1. Devanagari script form of nāga

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /nɑː.ɡɐ́/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /n̪ɑː.ɡɐ/

Probably the same word as नाग (nāga, “elephant”). Both the meanings “snake” and “elephant” can be explained as “*naked, hairless animal”, from Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós (“naked”). Cognate with Lithuanian núogas (“naked”). See also नग्न (nagná-, “naked”).^[1]

The comparison with Old English snaca (whence English snake) is nowadays considered unlikely.

नाग • (nāgá) stem, m

1. a snake, especially of species Naja naja
   • c. 700 BCE, Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa
2. a naga or serpent-demon
3. name of the numbers 7 and 8
4. one of the five airs of the human body (which is expelled by eructation)
5. any of several plants (Mesua roxburghii, Rottlera tinctoria etc.)

नाग • (nāgá) stem

1. formed of snakes, relating to serpents or serpents-demons, snaky, serpentine, serpent-like
2. belonging to an elephant, elephantine (as urine)

From Proto-Indo-European *nogʷós (“naked”). See नाग (nāga, “snake”).

नाग • (nāgá) stem, m

1. an elephant
   • c. 80 CE – 150 CE, Aśvaghoṣa, Buddhacarita 3.2:

     श्रुत्वा ततः स्त्रीजनवल्लभानां मनोज्ञभावं पुरकाननानाम् ।
     बहिःप्रयाणाय चकार बुद्धिम् अन्तर्गृहे नाग इवावरुद्धः ॥

     śrutvā tataḥ strījanavallabhānāṃ manojñabhāvaṃ purakānanānām.
     bahiḥprayāṇāya cakāra buddhim antargṛhe nāga ivāvaruddhaḥ.

     • 1893 translation by E. B. Cowell

       Having heard of the delightful appearance of the city groves beloved by the women,
       He resolved to go out of doors, like an elephant long shut up in a house.

• Old Javanese: nāga (see there for further descendants)
• Pali: nāga (“elephant”)
• Prakrit: 𑀡𑀸𑀬 (ṇāya)

Probably borrowed from Semitic, ultimately from Sumerian 𒀭𒈾 (anna). Compare Classical Syriac ܐܢܟܐ (ʾānḵāʾ, “tin”), Biblical Hebrew אֲנָךְ (ʾănāḵ), Arabic آنُك (ʔānuk, “lead; tin”).^[2]

नाग • (nāga) stem, n

1. tin, lead
2. a kind of talc
3. a kind of coitus
4. name of the 3rd invariable करण (karaṇa)
5. name of the effects of that period on anything happening during it
6. name of a district of भारतवर्ष (bhāratavarṣa)

Uncertain. Possibly from नाग (nāga, “snake”) as "snake tree".^[3]

नाग • (nāga) stem, m

1. name of the tree Mesua ferrea

• Monier Williams (1899) “नाग”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, pages 532-533.
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “nāga”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 404