मेष

See also: मूष् and मषि

Hindi

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit मेष (meṣá).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /meːʂ/, [meːʃ]

Noun

मेष • (meṣ) m (Urdu spelling میش)

1. ram

   Synonym: भेड़ (bheṛ)

2. sheep
3. (astrology) the sign of the zodiac Aries or the first arc of 30 degrees in a circle

Declension

Declension of मेष (masc cons-stem)

	singular	plural
direct	मेष meṣ	मेष meṣ
oblique	मेष meṣ	मेषों meṣõ
vocative	मेष meṣ	मेषो meṣo

See also

Zodiac signs in Hindi · राशियाँ (rāśiyā̃) (layout · text)
मेष (meṣ)	वृष (vŕṣ)	मिथुन (mithun)	कर्क (kark)
सिंह (sĩh)	कन्या (kanyā)	तुला (tulā)	वृश्चिक (vŕścik)
धनु (dhanu)	मकर (makar)	कुंभ (kumbh)	मीना (mīnā)

Marathi

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit मेष (meṣá).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meʂ/

Noun

मेष • (meṣ) m

1. sheep

   Synonym: मेंढी (meṇḍhī)

2. (astrology) the sign of the zodiac Aries

See also

Zodiac signs in Marathi · राशी (rāśī) (layout · text)
मेष (meṣ)	वृषभ (vŕṣabh)	मिथुन (mithun)	कर्क (karka)
सिंह (siuha)	कन्या (kanyā)	तूळ (tūḷ)	वृश्चिक (vŕścik)
धनु (dhanu)	मकर (makar)	कुंभ (kumbha)	मीन (mīn)

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Alternative scripts

• মেষ (Assamese script)
• ᬫᬾᬱ (Balinese script)
• মেষ (Bengali script)
• 𑰦𑰸𑰬 (Bhaiksuki script)
• 𑀫𑁂𑀱 (Brahmi script)
• မေၑ (Burmese script)
• મેષ (Gujarati script)
• ਮੇਸ਼ (Gurmukhi script)
• 𑌮𑍇𑌷 (Grantha script)
• ꦩꦺꦰ (Javanese script)
• 𑂧𑂵𑂭 (Kaithi script)
• ಮೇಷ (Kannada script)
• មេឞ (Khmer script)
• ເມຩ (Lao script)
• മേഷ (Malayalam script)
• ᠮᡝᢢᠠ (Manchu script)
• 𑘦𑘹𑘬 (Modi script)
• ᠮᠧᢔᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
• 𑧆𑧚𑧌 (Nandinagari script)
• 𑐩𑐾𑐲 (Newa script)
• ମେଷ (Odia script)
• ꢪꢾꢰ (Saurashtra script)
• 𑆩𑆼𑆰 (Sharada script)
• 𑖦𑖸𑖬 (Siddham script)
• මෙෂ (Sinhalese script)
• 𑩴𑩔𑪀 (Soyombo script)
• 𑚢𑚲 (Takri script)
• மேஷ (Tamil script)
• మేష (Telugu script)
• เมษ (Thai script)
• མེ་ཥ (Tibetan script)
• 𑒧𑒹𑒭 (Tirhuta script)
• 𑨢𑨄𑨯 (Zanabazar Square script)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *moysós

Proto-Indo-Iranian *mayšás

Sanskrit मे॒ष (meṣá)

Inherited from Proto-Indo-Iranian *mayšás, from Proto-Indo-European *moysós. Cognate with Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬉𐬱𐬀 (maēša), Persian میش (miš), Proto-Slavic *mě̑xъ (“leather bag, sack”).

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /mɐj.ʂɐ́/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /ˈmeː.ʂɐ/

Noun

मे॒ष • (meṣá) stem, m

1. ram, sheep
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.52.1:

     त्यं सु मे॒षं म॑हया स्व॒र्विदं॑ श॒तं यस्य॑ सु॒भ्व॑: सा॒कमीर॑ते।
     अत्यं॒ न वाजं॑ हवन॒स्यदं॒ रथ॒मेन्द्रं॑ ववृत्या॒मव॑से सुवृ॒क्तिभि॑:॥

     tyáṃ sú meṣáṃ mahayā svarvídaṃ śatáṃ yásya subhvà: sākámī́rate.
     átyaṃ ná vā́jaṃ havanasyádaṃ ráthaméndraṃ vavṛtyāmávase suvṛktíbhi:.

     Worship well that ram who makes heaven known, whom a hundred worshippers at once are assiduous in praising. I implore Indra with many prayers to ascend the car, which hastens like a fleet courser to the sacrificer for my protection.

2. (Vedic) fleece; anything woollen
3. (astrology) the sign of the zodiac Aries or the first arc of 30 degrees in a circle
4. (botany) a species of plant
5. name of a particular demon

Declension

Masculine a-stem declension of मेष (meṣá)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	मेषः meṣáḥ	मेषौ / मेषा¹ meṣaú / meṣā́¹	मेषाः / मेषासः¹ meṣā́ḥ / meṣā́saḥ¹
Vocative	मेष méṣa	मेषौ / मेषा¹ méṣau / méṣā¹	मेषाः / मेषासः¹ méṣāḥ / méṣāsaḥ¹
Accusative	मेषम् meṣám	मेषौ / मेषा¹ meṣaú / meṣā́¹	मेषान् meṣā́n
Instrumental	मेषेण meṣéṇa	मेषाभ्याम् meṣā́bhyām	मेषैः / मेषेभिः¹ meṣaíḥ / meṣébhiḥ¹
Dative	मेषाय meṣā́ya	मेषाभ्याम् meṣā́bhyām	मेषेभ्यः meṣébhyaḥ
Ablative	मेषात् meṣā́t	मेषाभ्याम् meṣā́bhyām	मेषेभ्यः meṣébhyaḥ
Genitive	मेषस्य meṣásya	मेषयोः meṣáyoḥ	मेषाणाम् meṣā́ṇām
Locative	मेषे meṣé	मेषयोः meṣáyoḥ	मेषेषु meṣéṣu
Notes	¹Vedic

Descendants

• Dardic:
  • Kalasha: meṣ
• Prakrit: 𑀫𑁂𑀲 (mesa) (see there for further descendants)

Borrowed terms

• → Burmese: မိဿ (mi.ssa.)
• → Kannada: ಮೇಷ (mēṣa)
• → Khmer: មេសា (meisaa)
• → Hindi: मेष (meṣ)
• → Marathi: मेष (meṣ)
• → Odia: ମେଷ (mesha)
• → Tamil: மேஷம் (mēṣam)
• → Thai: เมษ (mêet)
• → Malayalam: മേഷം (mēṣaṁ), മേടം (mēṭaṁ)

See also

Zodiac signs in Sanskrit (layout · text)
मेष (meṣa)	ऋषभ (ṛṣabha)	मिथुन (mithuna)	कर्कटक (karkaṭaka)
सिंह (siṃha)	कन्या (kanyā)	तुला (tulā)	वृश्चिक (vṛścika)
धनु (dhanu)	मकर (makara)	कुम्भ (kumbha)	मीन (mīna)

References

• Monier Williams (1899) “मेष”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 0833.
• Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1893) “मेष”, in A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout, London: Oxford University Press, page 235

Further reading

• Hellwig, Oliver (2010-2024) “meṣa”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.