As a deity name
Name 79 of the Gopal Sahasranāma — Sammohana Tantra, as taught by Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvati
Name 150 of the Gopal Sahasranāma — Sammohana Tantra, as taught by Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvati
Name 416 of the Narasimha Sahasranāma — Brahmanda Purana / Narasimha Purana, as taught by Sages to Assembly of Devotees
As a Hindi name
गोप · noun · masculine
गौ की रक्षा करनेवाला · ग्वाला । अभीर । अहीर · गोशाला या गोष्ठ का अध्यक्ष या प्रबंध करनेवाला — Śabdasāgara
गोप · noun · masculine
सिकरी या जंजीर के आकार का गले में पहनने का एक प्रकार का आभूषण, जो पतले तारों को गथकर फुलावदार बनाया जाता है — Śabdasāgara
गोप · gopa · s.m.
A caste of Hindūs who are cow-herds (syn. gwāl); a man of that caste; a cow-herd, herdsman; a dairyman, a milkman — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 922
गोप · gop · s.f.
A chain of gold and silver threads twisted together; a gold necklace; a bracelet of gold and silver wires (or gold alone) interlaced — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 922
गोपी
milkmaid; cowherdess; milkman or cowherd's wife; gopi
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi गोपी — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Borrowed from Sanskrit गोपी (gopī). By surface analysis, गोप (gop) + -ई (-ī).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
go-pī (ī), f. id., L.
(Vop. iv, 22; cf. Pāṇ. iv, 1, 48) a cowherd's wife, Hit. ii, 7, 0/1
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
a cowherd, herdsman, milkman (considered as a man of mixed caste, ), (ifc. ā, ), &c.
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (14)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "gopa" is the vocative of "gopā" — the same word in a different grammatical case.
Dictionary citations
go—pa &c. See s.v.
go-pa m. (= -pā s.v. go) a cowherd, herdsman, milkman (considered as a man of mixed caste, Parāś.), Mn. viii; MBh. (ifc. f(ā). , i, 3213), Hariv. &c.
a protector, guardian, RV. x, 61, 10; TāṇḍyaBr.; KātyŚr.; MBh.
the superintendent of several villages, head of a district, L.
a king, L.
go—pā m. (nom. ās acc. ām du. ā or au pl. nom. ās instr. ābhis) a herdsman, guardian, RV.; AV.; VS.; TBr. iii; ChUp.; ŚvetUp.
go—pā f. (ās) a female guardian, AV. xii, 1, 57; TBr. iii (cf. gopa s.v., a-, deva-, vāyu-, saha-, soma-, su-gopā)
Alternative readings
More than one analysis survives full verification. That ambiguity is real, so we show every reading rather than pick one silently.
Caveats
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