As a Hindi name
नाय · noun · masculine
नय । नीति · उपाय । युक्ति · नेता । अगुआ — Śabdasāgara
नाय · noun · feminine
नाव । नौका । किश्ती — Śabdasāgara
Cited formation "नाय" is ना- + य: य means "the twenty-sixth consonant in Hindi", and the prefix ना- forms without. CHD Basic Grammar App. I §5(2) — cited from the extracted rule table
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
a leader, guide, (proper N.; cf. aśva-, go-)
Verified derivationMultiple readings (12)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "nāya" is the dative of "na" — the same word in a different grammatical case.
Dictionary citations
nāya m. (√ nī) a leader, guide, RV. vi, 24, 10; 46, 11 (proper N. Sāy.; cf. aśva-, go-)
guidance, direction, L.
policy, means, expedient, Bhaṭṭ., Sch.
nāya m. (-yaḥ) 1 Guiding, directing, (morally or physically.) 2 Policy. 3 Obtaining. 4 Means, expedient. E. ṇī to guide, &c. affix ṇa or ghañ; also with ac affix naya.
1. na the dental nasal (found at the beginning of words and before or after dental consonants as well as between vowels; subject to conversion into ṇa, Pāṇ. viii, 4, 1-39).
2. na ind. not, no, nor, neither, RV. (nā, x, 34, 8) &c. &c. (as well in simple negation as in wishing, requesting and commanding, except in prohibition before an Impv. or an augmentless aor. [cf. 1. mā]; in successive sentences or clauses either simply repeated, e.g. Mn. iv, 34; or strengthened by another particle, esp. at the second place or further on in the sentence, e.g. by u [cf. no], uta, api, cāpi, vā, vāpi or atha vā, RV. i, 170, 1; 151, 9; Nal. iii, 24, &c.; it may even be replaced by ca, vā, api ca, api vā, &c. alone, as, Mn. ii, 98; Nal. i, 14, &c.; often joined with other particles, beside those mentioned above esp. with a following tu, tv eva, tv eva tu, ced, q.v., khalu, q.v., ha [cf. g. cādi and Pāṇ. viii, 1, 31] &c.; before round or collective numbers and after any numeral in the instr. or abl. it expresses deficiency, e.g. ekayā na viṃśati, not 20 by 1 i.e. 19 ŚBr.; pañcabhir na catvāri śatāni, 395 ib.; with another na or an a priv. it generally forms a strong affirmation [cf. Vām. v, 1, 9] e.g. neyaṃ na vakṣyati, she will most certainly declare, Śak. iii, 9; nādaṇḍyo 'sti, he must certainly be punished, Mn. viii, 335; it may also, like a, form compounds, Vām. v, 2, 13 [cf. below])
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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