मधु

See also: मृध and मेध

Hindi

Etymology

Borrowing from Sanskrit मधु (mádhu).

Noun

मधु • (madhu) m (Urdu spelling مدھو‏)

1. honey

   हर मधुमक्खी रानी के लिए मधु बनाता है।

   har madhumakkhī rānī ke lie madhu banātā hai.

   Every honeybee makes honey for the queen.

2. anything sweet (mead, sugar, etc.)

Synonyms

• शहद (śahd)

References

• John T. Platts (accessed 10-23-2012), “A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi, and English”, in (Please provide the title of the work)^[1]

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Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

• madhu (Latin script)
• মধু (Bengali script)
• මධු (Sinhalese script)
• မဓု (Burmese script)
• มธุ (Thai script)
• ᨾᨵᩩ (Tai Tham script)
• មធុ (Khmer script)

Noun

मधु n

1. Devanagari script form of madhu

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Sanskrit

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *mádʰu, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰu (“honey, wine”). Cognates include Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu), Lithuanian medùs, Old Church Slavonic медъ (medŭ, “honey”), and Old English medu (English mead).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɐ.d̪ʱu/

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• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /mɐ́.d̪ʱu/
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmɐ.d̪ʱu/

Noun

मधु • (mádhu) n

1. anything sweet (especially if liquid), mead etc.
2. honey (said to possess intoxicating qualities and to be of 8 kinds)
   • RV 2.39.6a

     ओष्ठाविव मध्वास्ने वदन्ता सतनाविव पिप्यतं जीवसेनः |

     नासेव नस्तन्वो रक्षितारा कर्णाविव सुश्रुता भूतमस्मे ||

     oṣṭhāviva madhvāsne vadantā stanāviva pipyataṃ jīvasenaḥ |

     nāseva nastanvo rakṣitārā karṇāviva suśrutā bhūtamasme ||

     Even as two lips that with the mouth speak honey, even as two breasts that nourish our existence,

     Like the two nostrils that protect our being, be to us as our ears that hear distinctly.

3. milk or anything produced from milk (as butter, ghee etc.)
4. the juice or nectar of flowers, any sweet intoxicating drink, wine or spirituous liquor
5. sugar
6. water
7. pyrites
8. a kind of metre

Declension

Neuter u-stem declension of मधु
Nom. sg.	मधु (madhu)
Gen. sg.	मधुनः (madhunaḥ)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	मधु (madhu)	मधुनी (madhunī)	मधूनि (madhūni)
Vocative	मधु (madhu)	मधुनी (madhunī)	मधूनि (madhūni)
Accusative	मधु (madhu)	मधुनी (madhunī)	मधूनि (madhūni)
Instrumental	मधुना (madhunā)	मधुभ्याम् (madhubhyām)	मधुभिः (madhubhiḥ)
Dative	मधुने (madhune)	मधुभ्याम् (madhubhyām)	मधुभ्यः (madhubhyaḥ)
Ablative	मधुनः (madhunaḥ)	मधुभ्याम् (madhubhyām)	मधुभ्यः (madhubhyaḥ)
Genitive	मधुनः (madhunaḥ)	मधुनोः (madhunoḥ)	मधूनाम् (madhūnām)
Locative	मधुनि (madhuni)	मधुनोः (madhunoḥ)	मधुषु (madhuṣu)

Descendants

• Gujarati: મધ (madh)
• Telugu: మధువు (madhuvu)

Proper noun

मधु • (madhu) m

1. Name of the first month of the year - Chaitra, the season of spring.
2. Name of Shiva.
3. Name of a demon killed by Vishnu.

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 779/2