As a deity name
Name 670 of the Durga Sahasranāma — Kula Arnava Tantra / Skanda Purana, as taught by Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvati
As a Hindi name
हिंसा · noun · feminine
वध या पीड़ा । जीवों को मारना या सताना । प्राण मारना या कष्ट देना · हानि पहुँचाना । अनिष्ट करना — Śabdasāgara
हिंसा · hiṅsā · s.f.
Injuring, injury, mischief, hurt, harm, wrong — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 1237
हिंसा · feminine
violence, harm; malice, ill-will
Cited formation "हिंसा" is हिंस + -आ: हिंस means "(dialec.) Neighing (of a horse)", 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
Cited formation "हिंसा" is हिंसना + -आ: हिंसना means "जीवों का वध करना । जान मारना । घात करना", 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
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi हिंसा — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Borrowed from Sanskrit हिंसा (hiṃsā).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
hiṃsā (ā), f., see below.
hiṃsā f. injury, harm (to life or property), hurt, mischief, wrong (said to be of three kinds, 1. mental as ‘bearing malice’; 2. verbal, as ‘abusive language’; 3. personal, as ‘acts of violence’), Mn.; Yājñ.; MBh. &c.
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
Asteracantha Longifolia
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (3)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "hiṃsā" is the feminine form of "hiṃsa" — the same word with the feminine ending, derived from the stem's own paradigm.
Dictionary citations
hiṃsā (ā), f., see below.
hiṃsā f. injury, harm (to life or property), hurt, mischief, wrong (said to be of three kinds, 1. mental as ‘bearing malice’; 2. verbal, as ‘abusive language’; 3. personal, as ‘acts of violence’), Mn.; Yājñ.; MBh. &c.
Injury or Mischief personified (as the wife of Adharma and daughter of Lobha and Niṣkṛti), Pur.
Asteracantha Longifolia, L.
hiṃsā [hiṃs-a] 1 Injury, mischief, wrong, harm, hurt (said to be of three kinds:-kāyika ‘personal’, vācika ‘verbal’, and mānasika ‘mental’); ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ. 2 Killing, slaying, destruction; R. 5. 57; 3. 313; Ms. 10. 63. 3 Robbery, plunder. Comp. — ātmaka a. injurious, destructive. — karman n. 1 any hurtful or injurious act. 2 magic used to effect the ruin or injury of an enemy (= abhicāra q. v.). — prāṇin m. a noxious animal. — rata a. delighting (pb) in mischief. — ruci a, intent on or delighting in mischief; Māl. 5. 29, — samudbhava a, arising from injury.
hiṃsa mfn. injuring, injurious, mischievous, hostile, RV.
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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