लिङ्ग

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /lɪŋɡ/, [lɪ̃ŋɡ]

लिङ्ग • (liṅg) m (Urdu spelling لِن٘گ)

1. alternative spelling of लिंग (liṅg)

लिङ्ग n

1. Devanagari script form of liṅga (“sign”)

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *lingás ~ *ringás (“mark, sign, token”). Cognate with Avestan -𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬧𐬔𐬀 (-iriṇga) (attested in 𐬵𐬀𐬞𐬙𐬋𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬧𐬔𐬀 (haptōⁱriṇga, “the constellation Ursa Major”, literally “having seven signs”)), Sogdian [script needed] (pryng /⁠paring⁠/, “damask textile with markings on it”) (< *upa-ringa-).

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /liŋ.ɡɐ/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /l̪iŋ.ɡɐ/

लिङ्ग • (liṅga) stem, n

1. mark, spot, sign, token, badge, form, emblem, characteristic, representation
   • late 1st millennium BCE, Maitrāyaṇīya Upaniṣad
   • Dharmakīrti, Pramāṇavārttika:

     वेदप्रामाण्यं कस्यचित् कर्तृवादः ।
     स्नाने धर्मेच्छा जातिवादावलेपः ।
     संतापारम्भः पापहानाय चेति ।
     ध्वस्तप्रज्ञानां पञ्च लिङ्गानि जाड्ये ॥

     vedaprāmāṇyaṃ kasyacit kartṛvādaḥ.
     snāne dharmecchā jātivādāvalepaḥ.
     saṃtāpārambhaḥ pāpahānāya ceti.
     dhvastaprajñānāṃ pañca liṅgāni jāḍye.

     Five are the signs of stupidity of those with destroyed intellect: belief in the authoritativeness of Vedas, faith in a creator, seeing piety in bathing, pride in one's caste and penance for getting rid of sin.

2. (anatomy) the sign of gender or sex; organ of generation; genital
   1. the male organ or phallus; penis
      • Rasaratnākara 7.1:

        वीर्यं स्थिरं योनिमुखेषु येषां स्थूलं दृढं दीर्घतमं च लिङ्गम् ।
        तेषां प्रगल्भाः प्रमदाश् च सर्वा भवन्ति तृप्ताः सुरतप्रसङ्गे ॥

        vīryaṃ sthiraṃ yonimukheṣu yeṣāṃ sthūlaṃ dṛḍhaṃ dīrghatamaṃ ca liṅgam.
        teṣāṃ pragalbhāḥ pramadāś ca sarvā bhavanti tṛptāḥ surataprasaṅge.

        The seed of the one with a strong, stout and long penis reaches the mouth of the womb.
        All proud and wanton females are satisfied with them during copulation.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:शिश्न

      1. (Shaivism) lingam; the phallic form of Shiva worshipped in the form of a stone or marble column which generally rises out of a yoni

         Synonym: शिवलिङ्ग (śivaliṅga)

3. gender, sex
   • Uttararāmacarita:

     गुणाः पूजास्थानं गुणिषु न च लिङ्गं न च वयः ।

     guṇāḥ pūjāsthānaṃ guṇiṣu na ca liṅgaṃ na ca vayaḥ.

     Praiseworthy are virtues of the meritorious, not their gender or age.

4. (grammar) gender
5. any assumed or false badge or mark, guise, disguise
6. proof, evidence
7. sign of guilt, corpus delicti
8. the image of a god, an idol
9. (logic) the invariable mark which proves the existence of anything in an object (as in the proposition ‘there is fire because there is smoke’, smoke is the liṅga)
10. inference, conclusion, reason
11. symptom, mark of disease

• Pali: liṅga
  • → Thai: ลึงค์ (lʉng), ลิงค์ (ling) (or borrowed directly from Sanskrit)
• Prakrit: 𑀮𑀺𑀁𑀕 (liṃga) (see there for further descendants)
• → English: lingam
• → Kannada: ಲಿಂಗ (liṅga)
• → Khmer: លិង្គ (lɨng)

• Monier Williams (1899) “लिङ्ग”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 901, column 3.
• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “लिङ्गम्”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan
• Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2025) “liṅga”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.
• Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1893) “लिङ्ग”, in A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout, London: Oxford University Press
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “liṅga”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press