As a Hindi name
मेला · noun · masculine
बहुत से लोगों का जमावड़ा । भीड़ भाड़ · देवदर्शन, उत्सव, खेल, तमाशी आदि के लिये बहुत से लोगों का जमावड़ा । जैसे, माघमेला, हरिहरक्षेत्र का मेला — Śabdasāgara
मेला · noun · feminine
बहुत से लोगों का जमावड़ा · मिलन । समागम । मिलाप · स्याही । रोशनाई — Śabdasāgara
मेला · melā · s.m.
Meeting, assemblage, company; a large concourse of people (for religious or commercial purposes), a fair; a meeting, or mixed assemblage, of faqīrs — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 1107
मेला · masculine
festival, fair; mela (the Hindu religious festival)
Cited formation "मेला" is मेल + -आ: मेल means "union, joining, coming together", and the suffix -आ forms abstract, agent, action or instrumental nouns (masc.); also past participles. CHD Basic Grammar App. I §8(3) — cited from the extracted rule table
Cited formation "मेला" is मेलना + -आ: मेलना means "To cause to meet, or come together", and the suffix -आ forms abstract, agent, action or instrumental nouns (masc.); also past participles. CHD Basic Grammar App. I §8(3) — cited from the extracted rule table — base gloss: Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago
a Hindi word, a tadbhava: evolved from the Sanskrit through Prakrit मेलक — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀫𑁂𑀮𑀕 (melaga), from Sanskrit मेलक (melaka).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
melaka m. id., Kāv.; Pañcat. (˚kaṃ-√ kṛ, to assemble together)
conjunction (of planets, in graha-m˚), Sūryas.
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
an association, assembly, company, society
Verified derivationMultiple readings (4)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "melā" is the feminine form of "mela" — the same word with the feminine ending (nominative).
Dictionary citations
melā f. See below.
melā f. an association, assembly, company, society, Pañcat.
a musical scale, Cat. (perhaps, m(mela). )
a partic. high number, Buddh.
any black substance used for writing, ink, L.
mela m. (√ mil) meeting, union, intercourse, Kāv.; Kathās.
mela mf. (-laḥ-lā) Meeting, union, assemblage; in the modern dialects, applied to a large concourse of people collected at stated periods for religious or commercial purposes, as at Haridvār, &c. f. (-lā) 1 Ink. 2 Antimony or any collyrium. E. mila to mix, to meet, aff. ghañ; also with lyuṭ, aff. melana.
Alternative readings
More than one analysis survives full verification. That ambiguity is real, so we show every reading rather than pick one silently.
Caveats
Sources contain errors and engines have limits; every claim above carries its citation so you can verify it. This is guidance about names and their sources — not religious or astrological consultation. How we work · Our sources