As a deity name
Name 654 of the Ganesha Sahasranāma — Ganesha Purana (Upasana Khanda), as taught by Sage Vyasa / Lord Ganesha
Name 988 of the Gopal Sahasranāma — Sammohana Tantra, as taught by Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvati
Name 30 of the Lakshmi Sahasranāma — Skanda Purana / Sanat Kumara Samhita, as taught by Sages Sanatkumara and Devotees
Name 262 of the Rama Sahasranāma — Padma Purana / Skanda Purana, as taught by Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvati
As a Hindi name
हंस · noun · masculine
बत्तख के आकार का एक जलपक्षी जो बड़ी बड़ी झीलों में रहता है · सूर्य — Śabdasāgara
हंस · noun · masculine
एक प्रकार का पुराना चौपड़ का खेल जो पासों से खेला जाता है — Śabdasāgara
हंस · haṅs · s.m.
(f. -ī), A goose, gander; swan; duck — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 1237
हंस · haṅs · s.m.
Laughing; laughter (see haṅsī) — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 1237
हंस · masculine
swan; goose; Brahminy duck, Tadorna ferruginea
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi हं॒स — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Learned borrowing from Sanskrit हं॒स (haṃsá). Doublet of हाँस (hā̃s).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
a goose, gander, swan, flamingo (or other aquatic bird, considered as a bird of passage; sometimes a mere poetical or mythical bird, said in to be able to separate Soma from water…
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (2)Why this matches what you typed
The spelling you confirmed, हंस, is itself a dictionary headword — no grammatical transformation stands between what you typed and the meaning above.
Dictionary citations
1. haṃsa m. (ifc. f(ā). ; accord. to Uṇ. iii, 62 fr. √ 1. han, ‘to go?’) a goose, gander, swan, flamingo (or other aquatic bird, considered as a bird of passage; sometimes a mere poetical or mythical bird, said in RV. to be able to separate Soma from water, when these two fluids are mixed, and in later literature, milk from water when these two are mixed; also forming in RV. the vehicle of the Aśvins, and in later lit˚ that of Brahmā; ifc. also = ‘best or chief among’), RV. &c. &c.
the soul or spirit (typified by the pure white colour of a goose or swan, and migratory like a goose; sometimes ‘the Universal Soul or Supreme Spirit’, identified with Virāj, Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu, Śiva, Kāma, and the Sun; du. ‘the universal and the individual Spirit’; accord. to Sāy. resolvable into ahaṃ sa, ‘I am that’), Up.; MBh.; Hariv. &c.
one of the vital airs, L.
a kind of ascetic, MBh.; Hariv.; BhP.
a man of supernatural qualities born under a partic. constellation, VarBṛS.
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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