कुंकू

See also: काक, काका, काकी, काकू, कुकी, and कोक

Marathi

Etymology

Inherited from Old Marathi 𑘎𑘳𑘽𑘎𑘳 (kuṃku), from Maharastri Prakrit 𑀓𑀼𑀁𑀓𑀼𑀫 (kuṃkuma), from Sanskrit कुङ्कुम (kuṅkuma). Compare Gujarati કંકુ (kaṅku), Kannada ಕುಂಕುಮ (kuṅkuma), Hindustani کُمْکُم (kumkum) / कुमकुम (kumkum), Sindhi ڪُنگۇ / कुंगू, Punjabi ਕੁੰਗੂ (kuṅgū) / کُنگُو (kungū) ਕੁਮਕੁਮ (kumkum), Bengali কুমকুম (kumkum), Telugu కుంకుమ (kuṅkuma), Tamil குங்குமம் (kuṅkumam), Malayalam കുങ്കുമം (kuṅkumaṁ), Sinhalese කොකුම් (kokum), කුංකුම (kuṁkuma).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kuŋ.ku/, [kuŋ.kuː]

• Audio

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Noun

कुंकू • (kuṅkū) n

1. kumkum (red powder traditionally worn on the forehead by married Hindu women whose husbands are living, but now worn by any woman)

Derived terms

• हळदी-कुंकू (haḷdī-kuṅkū, “Haldi Kumkum”)

 

Further reading

• Berntsen, Maxine, “कुंकू”, in A Basic Marathi-English Dictionary, New Delhi: American Institute of Indian Studies, 1982-1983.
• Molesworth, James Thomas (1857) “कुंकूं”, in A dictionary, Marathi and English, Bombay: Printed for government at the Bombay Education Society's Press
• दाते, यशवंत रामकृष्ण [Date, Yashwant Ramkrishna] (1932-1950) “कुंकू”, in महाराष्ट्र शब्दकोश (mahārāṣṭra śabdakoś) (in Marathi), पुणे [Pune]: महाराष्ट्र कोशमंडळ (mahārāṣṭra kośmaṇḍaḷ).
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “kuṅkuma”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press