नु

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

nu (Latin script)
𑀦𑀼 (Brahmi script)
নু (Bengali script)
නු (Sinhalese script)
နု or ၼု (Burmese script)
นุ (Thai script)
ᨶᩩ (Tai Tham script)
ນຸ (Lao script)
នុ (Khmer script)
𑄚𑄪 (Chakma script)

Particle

नु (nu)

Devanagari script form of nu (“then, now”)

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

নু (Assamese script)
ᬦᬸ (Balinese script)
নু (Bengali script)
𑰡𑰲 (Bhaiksuki script)
𑀦𑀼 (Brahmi script)
နု (Burmese script)
નુ (Gujarati script)
ਨੁ (Gurmukhi script)
𑌨𑍁 (Grantha script)
ꦤꦸ (Javanese script)
𑂢𑂳 (Kaithi script)
ನು (Kannada script)
នុ (Khmer script)
ນຸ (Lao script)
നു (Malayalam script)
ᠨᡠ (Manchu script)
𑘡𑘳 (Modi script)
ᠨᠤ (Mongolian script)
𑧁𑧔 (Nandinagari script)
𑐣𑐸 (Newa script)
ନୁ (Odia script)
ꢥꢸ (Saurashtra script)
𑆤𑆶 (Sharada script)
𑖡𑖲 (Siddham script)
නු (Sinhalese script)
𑩯𑩒 (Soyombo script)
𑚝𑚰 (Takri script)
நு (Tamil script)
ను (Telugu script)
นุ (Thai script)
ནུ (Tibetan script)
𑒢𑒳 (Tirhuta script)
𑨝𑨃 (Zanabazar Square script)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”). Cognate with Avestan 𐬥𐬏 (nū, “now”), Latin num (“now”), Old English nū (whence English now), Albanian ni (“now”), Lithuanian nù (“now”).^[1]

Alternative forms

नू (nū́)

Pronunciation

(Vedic) IPA^(key): /nú/
(Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /n̪u/

Adverb

नु • (nú)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Indo-European *newH- (“to cry”), whence Old Irish núall (“a loud noise”), Tocharian B nu- (“to roar”),^[2] and perhaps Latin nūntius (“messenger”).^[3]

Alternative forms

नव् (nav), नू (nū)

Pronunciation

(Vedic) IPA^(key): /nu/
(Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /n̪u/

Root

नु • (nu)

to sound out, exult
to praise, commend

Derived terms

Sanskrit terms belonging to the root नु (0 c, 1 e)

Category Terms derived from the Sanskrit root नु not found

Primary Verbal Forms

नौति (náuti, Present)
नवति (návati, Present)
नुवति (nuvati, Present)
नविष्यति (naviṣyati, Future)
नविता (navitā, Periphrastic Future)
अनूष्ट (ánūṣṭa, Aorist)
अनविष्ट (ánaviṣṭa, Aorist)
अनौषीत् (ánauṣīt, Aorist)
अनावित् (ánāvit, Aorist)
नुनाव (nunāva, Perfect)

Secondary Forms

नूयते (nūyáte, Passive)
नावयति (nāvayati, Causative)
अनूनोत् (ánūnot, Causative Aorist)
अनूनवत् (ánūnavat, Causative Aorist)
नुनूषति (nunūṣati, Desiderative)
नुनावयिषति (nunāvayiṣati, Desiderative of Causative)
नोनवीति (nónavīti, Intensive)
नवीनोति (návīnoti, Intensive)
नोनूयते (nonūyate, Intensive)
नोनाव (nonāva, Intensive Perfect)

Non-Finite Forms

नुत (nutá, Past Participle)
नवितुम् (navitum, Infinitive)
नुत्वा (nutvā, Gerund)
नुत्य (nutya, Gerund)
नावम् (nāvam, Gerund)
नव्य (návya, Gerundive)

Derived Nominal Forms

नवन (navana)
नाव (nāvá)
नुति (nuti, “praise, laudation; worship”)
नोनुव (nonuva)

Prefixed Root Forms

अभिनु (abhinu)
अनुनु (anunu)
प्रणु (praṇu)
संनु (saṃnu)

Noun

नु • (nu) stem, m

praise, eulogium (L.)

Declension

Masculine u-stem declension of नु (nu)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	नुः nuḥ	नू nū	नवः navaḥ
Vocative	नो no	नू nū	नवः navaḥ
Accusative	नुम् num	नू nū	नून् nūn
Instrumental	नुना / न्वा¹ nunā / nvā¹	नुभ्याम् nubhyām	नुभिः nubhiḥ
Dative	नवे / न्वे¹ nave / nve¹	नुभ्याम् nubhyām	नुभ्यः nubhyaḥ
Ablative	नोः / न्वः¹ noḥ / nvaḥ¹	नुभ्याम् nubhyām	नुभ्यः nubhyaḥ
Genitive	नोः / न्वः¹ noḥ / nvaḥ¹	न्वोः nvoḥ	नूनाम् nūnām
Locative	नौ nau	न्वोः nvoḥ	नुषु nuṣu
Notes	¹Vedic

Etymology 3

Related to Proto-Iranian *nau (“to move”) (whence Persian (navidan, “to tremble, quiver”)), from Proto-Indo-European *new- (“to nod”), with semantic shift "to nod the head" > "to move in a shaking manner". However, Mayrhofer is skeptical of most attestations of the root in Indic, noting that the Sanskrit passages attributed to the root are just as well interpreted with the "to sound out, praise" meaning of Etymology 2. That said, certain isolated formations like अतिनावयेत् (atināvayet) do seem to point to the root's existence as separate from that of Etymology 2.^[2]

Alternative forms

नव् (nav)

Root

नु • (nu)

to go
to move from the place, remove

Derived terms

नवते (navate)
नावयति (nāvayati)
नौति (nauti)

References

Monier Williams (1899) “नु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 567, columns 1-2.
William Dwight Whitney, 1885, The Roots, Verb-forms, and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language, Leipzig: Breitkopf and Härtel, page 91
Hellwig, Oliver (2010-2024) “nu”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.
Pokorny, Julius (1959) “767”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 767
Mallory, J. P. with Adams, D. Q. (2006) The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World (Oxford Linguistics), New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 353

^ Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 52-3
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[2] (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 23-4; 52
^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 419

[1] Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 52-3

[EWAia-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[2] (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 23-4; 52

[3] De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 419

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