As a Hindi name
पू · pū · s.m.
= pūʼā, q.v — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 276
Cited formation "पू" is प + -ऊ: प means "the twenty-first consonant in Hindi", and the suffix -ऊ forms 'belonging to', 'tending to' (adjectives). CHD Basic Grammar App. I §9(8) — cited from the extracted rule table
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
cleansing, purifying (ifc.; cf. anna-, uda-, ghṛta- &c.)
Verified derivationMultiple readings (4)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "pū" is the nominative dual of "pu" — the same word in a different grammatical case.
Gender counterpart
The kosha attests this stem in the feminine, the masculine, and the neuter — the same name serves without alteration.
Dictionary citations
1. pū cl. 9. P. Ā. (Dhātup. xxxi, 12) punāti, punīte (3. pl. Ā. punate, AV., punate, RV.; 2. sg. Impv. P. punīhi, RV. &c., punāhi, SV.); cl. 1. Ā. (xxii, 70) pavate (of P. only Impv. -pava, RV. ix, 19, 3, and p. gen. pl. pavatām, Bhag. x, 31; p. Ā. punāna below, pavamāna See p. 610, col. 3; 1. sg. Ā. punīṣe, RV. vii, 85, 1; pf. pupuvuḥ, ˚ve, Br.; apupot, RV. iii, 26, 8; aor. apāviṣuḥ Subj. apaviṣṭa, RV.; fut. paviṣyati, pavitā Gr.; ind.p. pūtvā, AV.; pūtvī, RV.; pavitvā Gr.; -pūya and -pāvam, Br. &c.; inf. pavitum, Br.), to make clean or clear or pure or bright, cleanse, purify, purge, clarify, illustrate, illume (with saktum, ‘to cleanse from chaff, winnow’; with kratum or manīṣām, ‘to enlighten the understanding’; with hiraṇyam, ‘to wash gold’), RV. &c. &c.; (met.) to sift, discriminate, discern; to think of or out, invent, compose (as a hymn), RV.; AV.; (Ā. pavate) to purify one's self, be or become clear or bright; (esp.) to flow off clearly (said of the Soma), RV.; to expiate, atone for, ib. vii, 28, 4; to pass so as to purify; to purify in passing or pervading, ventilate, RV. &c. (cf. √ pav) : Pass. pūyate, to be cleaned or washed or purified; to be freed or delivered from (abl.), Mn.; MBh. &c.: Caus. pavayati or pāvayati (ep. also ˚te; aor. apīpavat Gr.; Pass. pāvyate, Kāv.), to cleanse, purify, TS.; Br.; &c. : Desid., pupūṣati, pipaviṣate Gr.: Desid. of Caus. pipāvayiṣati Gr.
pū [cf. Gk. πῦρ; Umbr. pir; Germ. Feuer; Eng. fire.]
2. pū mfn. cleansing, purifying (ifc.; cf. anna-, uda-, ghṛta- &c.)
3. pū mfn. (√ 1. pā) drinking (see agre-pū).
pū 1 4 A., 9 U. (pavate, pūyate, punāti, punīte, pūta; caus. pāvayati; desid. pupūṣati, pipaviṣate) 1 To make pure, cleanse, purify (lit. and fig.); avaśyapāvyaṃ pavase Bk. 6. 64; 3. 18; puṇyāśramadarśanena tāvadātmānaṃ punīmahe Ś. 1; Ms. 1. 105; 2. 62; Y. 1. 58; R. 1. 53; Bg. 10. 31. 2 To refine. 3 To clean from chaff, winnow. 4 To expiate, atone for. 5 To discern, discriminate. 6 To think out, devise, invent. 7 To become clear or pure (Atm.).
pu mfn. cleaning, purifying (see su-pu).
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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