Hindi

Noun

वायु • ‎(vāyu) f ‎(Urdu spelling وایو)

1. air

Sanskrit

Etymology 1

From root √vai.

Adjective

वायु • ‎(vāyú)

1. tired, languid

Declension

Etymology 2

From root √vī.

Adjective

वायु • ‎(vāyú)

1. desirous, covetous, greedy (for food, applied to calves)
2. desirable, desired by the appetite

Declension

Etymology 3

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hwāyúš, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁yu- ‎(“wind, air”), ultimately from *h₂weh₁- ‎(“to blow”). Cognates include Lithuanian vejas and Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬎 ‎(vaiiu).

Noun

वायु • ‎(vāyú) m

1. wind
   • RV 6.45.32a

     यस्य वायोरिव दरवद भद्रा रातिः सहस्रिणी |

     सद्यो दानाय मंहते ||

     yasya vāyoriva dravad bhadrā rātiḥ sahasriṇī |

     sadyo dānāya maṃhate ||

     He whose good bounty, thousandfold, swift as the rushing of the wind,

     Suddenly offers as a gift.

2. air (as one of the 5 elements)
3. the god of the wind: Vayu
   • RV 7.91.3c

     पीवोन्नान रयिव्र्धः सुमेधाः शवेतः सिषक्ति नियुतामभिश्रीः |

     ते वायवे समनसो वि तस्थुर्विश्वेन नरः सवपत्यानि चक्रुः ||

     pīvoannān rayivṛdhaḥ sumedhāḥ śvetaḥ siṣakti niyutāmabhiśrīḥ |

     te vāyave samanaso vi tasthurviśven naraḥ svapatyāni cakruḥ ||

     Wise, bright, arranger of his teams, he. seeketh men with rich food whose treasures are abundant.

     They have arranged them of one mind with Vāyu: the men have wrought all noble operations.

4. breathing, breath
5. the wind of the body, a vital air
6. (medicine) the windy humour or any morbid affection of it
7. the wind as a kind of demon producing madness
8. (astronomy) name of the fourth muhurta
9. a mystical name of the letter ya
10. name of Vasu
11. name of Daitya
12. name of a Marut
13. (in the plural) the Maruts

Declension

See also

• वात ‎(vāta)

Descendants

• Bengali: বায়ু ‎(bayu)
• Dhivehi: ވައި ‎(vai)
• Hindi: वायु ‎(vāyu)
• Malay: bayu / بايو ‎(bayu)
• Telugu: వాయువు ‎(vāyuvu)
• Urdu: وایو ‎(vāyu)

References

• Sir Monier Monier-Williams (1898) A Sanskrit-English dictionary etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 0942
• Arthur A. Macdonell, A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout, London: Oxford University Press, 1893, page 277
• Horace Hayman Wilson, A dictionary in Sanscrit and English, 2nd ed., Calcutta: Education Press, Circular Road, 1832, page 752
• Carl Capeller, A Sanskrit-English dictionary, based upon the St. Petersburg lexicons, London: Luzac & Co., 1891, page 485