As a Hindi name
मूर्धन्य · mūrdhanya · adj.
Of or belonging to the head; coming from the head, cerebral — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 1089
मूर्धन्य
chief, leading, foremost; retroflex
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi मूर्धन्य — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Borrowed from Sanskrit मूर्धन्य (mūrdhanya, literally “pertaining to the head”).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
mūrdhanya mfn. being on or in the head, belonging to the head, capital, Kauś.; Kāv.; Pur.
‘formed on the roof or top of the palate’, N. of a class of letters (the so-called ‘cerebrals’ or ‘linguals’, viz. ṛ, ṝ, ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, r, ṣ), Prāt.; Pāṇ.
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
being on or in the head, belonging to the head, capital
Verified derivationMultiple readings (4)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "mūrdhanya" is the vocative of "mūrdhanyā" — the same word in a different grammatical case.
M3 · meaning shifts "mūrdhanya" is derived from "mūrdhan" with the yat suffix — a related word whose meaning shifts, so both meanings are shown.
mūrdhan m. (Uṇ. i, 158) the forehead, head in general, skull, (fig.) the highest or first part of anything, top, point, summit, front (of battle), commencement, beginning, first, chief (applied to persons), RV. &c., &c., (mūrdhni with √ vṛt &c., to be above everything, prevail; with √ dhṛ, or ā-√ dā = mūrdhnā √ 1. kṛ, to place on the head, hold in high honour)
the base (in geom.; opp. to agra; perhaps w.r. for budhna), Col.
mūrdhanya mfn. being on or in the head, belonging to the head, capital, Kauś.; Kāv.; Pur.
‘formed on the roof or top of the palate’, N. of a class of letters (the so-called ‘cerebrals’ or ‘linguals’, viz. ṛ, ṝ, ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, r, ṣ), Prāt.; Pāṇ.
Related forms
Gender counterpart
The kosha attests this stem in the feminine, the masculine, and the neuter — the same name serves without alteration.
Dictionary citations
mūrdhanya mfn. being on or in the head, belonging to the head, capital, Kauś.; Kāv.; Pur.
‘formed on the roof or top of the palate’, N. of a class of letters (the so-called ‘cerebrals’ or ‘linguals’, viz. ṛ, ṝ, ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, r, ṣ), Prāt.; Pāṇ.
highest, uppermost, pre-eminent, Inscr.
mūrdhanya a. [mūrdhni bhavaḥ yat] 1 Being in or on the head. 2 Cerebral or lingual, a term applied to the letters ṛ, ṝ, ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, r, and ṣ; ṛṭuraṣāṇāṃ mūrdhā. 3 Chief, pre-eminent, most excellent.
mūrdhanyā f. N. of the mother of Veda-śiras, VP.
mūrdhan m. (Uṇ. i, 158) the forehead, head in general, skull, (fig.) the highest or first part of anything, top, point, summit, front (of battle), commencement, beginning, first, chief (applied to persons), RV. &c., &c., (mūrdhni with √ vṛt &c., to be above everything, prevail; with √ dhṛ, or ā-√ dā = mūrdhnā √ 1. kṛ, to place on the head, hold in high honour)
the base (in geom.; opp. to agra; perhaps w.r. for budhna), Col.
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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