As a deity name
Name 21 of the Gayatri Sahasranāma — Devi Bhagavata Purana, as taught by Sages
Name 338 of the Lakshmi Sahasranāma — Skanda Purana / Sanat Kumara Samhita, as taught by Sages Sanatkumara and Devotees
Name 554 of the Saraswati Sahasranāma — Skanda Purana, as taught by Lord Brahma / Sages
As a Hindi name
अविद्या · noun · feminine
विरुद्ध ज्ञान । मिथ्या ज्ञान । अज्ञान । मोह · माया · माया का भेद — Śabdasāgara
अविद्या · a-vidyā · s.f.
Ignorance, stupidity — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 104
Cited formation "अविद्या" is अविद्य + -आ: अविद्य means "नष्ट । नेस्त नाबूद", 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: Śabdasāgara
Cited formation "अविद्या" is अविद्य + -आ: अविद्य means "नष्ट । नेस्त नाबूद", and the suffix -आ forms 'having' (adjectives). CHD Basic Grammar App. I §9(1) — cited from the extracted rule table — base gloss: Śabdasāgara
Cited formation "अविद्या" is अ- + विद्या: विद्या means "learning", and the prefix अ- forms negation, lack. CHD Basic Grammar App. I §3(1) — cited from the extracted rule table
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
ignorance, spiritual ignorance, -
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (3)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "avidyā" is the feminine form of "avidya" — the same word with the feminine ending (nominative).
Dictionary citations
a-vidyā f. ignorance, spiritual ignorance, AV. xi, 8, 23; VS. xl, 12-14; ŚBr. xiv
(in Vedānta phil.) illusion (personified as Māyā); ignorance together with nonexistence, Buddh.
a-vidya mfn. unlearned, unwise, Mn. ix, 205, &c.
avidya a. 1 Not educated, unlearned, foolish, unwise; avidyānāṃ tu sarveṣāmīhātaśceddhanaṃ bhavet Ms. 9. 205. 2 Not pertaining to knowledge. — dyā 1 Ignorance, folly, want of learning. 2 Spiritual ignorance. 3 Illusion, illusion personified or Māyā (a term frequently occurring in Vedānta; by means of this illusion one perceives the universe, which does not really exist, as inherent in Brahma which alone really exists). The term appears also in the systems of Gautama, Patañjali, Kapila, where it has different bearings; (with Buddhists) ignorance together with non-existence.
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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