As a Hindi name
धातु · noun · feminine
वह मूल द्रव्य जो अपारदर्शक हो, जिसमें एक विशेष प्रकार की चमक हो, जिसमें से होकर ताप और विद्युत् का संचार हो सके तथा जो पीटने अथवा तार के रूप में खींचने से खंडित न हो । एक खनिज पदार्थ · शरीर को धारण करनेवाला द्रव्य । शरीर को बनाए रखनेवाले पदार्थ · बुद्ध या किसी महात्मा की अस्थि आदि जिसे बौद्ध लोग डिब्बे में बंद करके स्थापित करते थे — Śabdasāgara
धातु · noun · masculine
भूत । तत्व · शब्द का मूल । क्रियावाचक प्रकृति । वह मूल जिससे क्रियाएँ बनी हैं या बनती हैं । जैसे, संस्कृत में भू, कृ, धृ इत्यादि (व्याकरण) · परमात्मा — Śabdasāgara
धातु · dhātu · s.m.
An element, primary or elementary substance (viz. earth, fire, water, air, atmosphere); constituent element of the body; primary or essential fluid or juice, a secretion; semen — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 538
धातु · feminine,masculine
metal, metallic element
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi धातु — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Borrowed from Sanskrit धातु m (dhātu), with the gender having changed in recent times.” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
1. dhātu m. layer, stratum, KātyŚr.; Kauś.
constituent part, ingredient (esp. [and in RV. only] ifc., where often = ‘fold’ e.g. tri-dhātu, threefold &c.; cf. triviṣṭi-, sapta-, su-), RV.; TS.; ŚBr. &c.
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
constituent part, ingredient (esp. [and in only] ifc., where often = ‘fold’ e.g. tri-dhātu, threefold &c.; cf. triviṣṭi-, sapta-, su-), &c.
Verified derivationMultiple readings (4)Why this matches what you typed
The spelling you confirmed, धातु, is itself a dictionary headword — no grammatical transformation stands between what you typed and the meaning above.
Dictionary citations
1. dhātu m. layer, stratum, KātyŚr.; Kauś.
constituent part, ingredient (esp. [and in RV. only] ifc., where often = ‘fold’ e.g. tri-dhātu, threefold &c.; cf. triviṣṭi-, sapta-, su-), RV.; TS.; ŚBr. &c.
element, primitive matter (= mahā-bhūta, L.), MBh.; Hariv. &c. (usually reckoned as 5, viz. kha or ākāśa, anila, tejas, jala, bhū; to which is added brahma, Yājñ. iii, 145; or vijñāna, Buddh.)
a constituent element or essential ingredient of the body (distinct from the 5 mentioned above and conceived either as 3 humours [called also doṣa] phlegm, wind and bile, BhP. [cf. purīṣa, māṃsa, manas, ChUp. vi, 5, 1]; or as the 5 organs of sense, indriyāṇi [cf. s.v. and MBh. xii, 6842, where śrotra, ghrāṇa, āsya, hṛdaya and koṣṭha are mentioned as the 5 dh˚ of the human body born from the either] and the 5 properties of the elements perceived by them, gandha, rasa, rūpa, sparśa and śabda, L.; or the 7 fluids or secretions, chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, semen, Suśr. [L. rasādi or rasa-raktādi, of which sometimes 10 are given, the above 7 and hair, skin, sinews, BhP.])
primary element of the earth i.e. metal, mineral, ore (esp. a mineral of a red colour), Mn.; MBh. &c. element of words i.e. grammatical or verbal root or stem, Nir.; Prāt.; MBh. &c. (with the southern Buddhists dhātu means either the 6 elements [see above] Dharmas. xxv; or the 18 elementary spheres [dhātu-loka] ib. lviii; or the ashes of the body, relics, L. [cf. -garbha]).
Alternative readings
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