As a deity name
Name 379 of the Gopal Sahasranāma — Sammohana Tantra, as taught by Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvati
Name 310 of the Hanuman Sahasranāma — Rasvin Samhita / Brahmanda Purana, as taught by Lord Ram / Sages
Name 593 of the Hanuman Sahasranāma — Rasvin Samhita / Brahmanda Purana, as taught by Lord Ram / Sages
Name 645 of the Krishna Sahasranāma — Mahabharata / Padma Purana, as taught by Sages and Devotees
As a Hindi name
काम · noun · masculine
इच्छा । मनोरथ । यौ.—कामद । कामप्रद · महादेव · कामदेव — Śabdasāgara
काम · noun · masculine
वह जो किया जाय । गति या क्रिया जो किसी प्रयत्न से उत्पन्न हो । व्यापार । कार्य । जैसे,—सब लोग अपना अपना काम कर रहैं · कठिन काम । मुश्किल बात । शक्ति या कौशल का कार्य । जैसे—वह नाटक लिखकर उन्होंने काम किया · प्रीयजन । अर्थ । मतलब । उद्देश्य । जैसे—हमारा काम हो जाय तो तुम्हें प्रसन्न कर देंगे — Śabdasāgara
काम · kām · s.m.
Action, act, deed, work, doing, handiwork, performance; work, labour, duty, task, job; business, occupation, employment, office, function; operation, undertaking, transaction, affair, matter, thing, concern, interest — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 804
काम · kāma · s.m.
Inclination, wish, desire, longing, inordinate desire; affection, love, passion; sexual passion; lust — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 805
काम · masculine
lust, sexual passion, desire; the god of love
काम · masculine
work, task, labour; job, employment; function, purpose
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi काम — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Learned borrowing from Sanskrit काम (kāma), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *káHmas.” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
kāma &c. See s.v.
kāma m. (fr. √ 2. kam; once kāma, VS. xx, 60), wish, desire, longing (kāmo me bhuñjīta bhavān, my wish is that you should eat, Pāṇ. iii, 3, 153), desire for, longing after (gen. dat., or loc.), love, affection, object of desire or of love or of pleasure, RV.; VS.; TS.; AV.; ŚBr.; MBh.; R. &c.
a Hindi word; it is not Sanskrit
“Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- Sanskrit कृ (kṛ) Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ ~ *-mén Proto-Indo-Iranian *-ma Sanskrit -मन् (-man) Sanskrit कर्म॑न् (kárman) Ashokan Prakrit 𑀓𑀁𑀫 (kaṃma) Prakrit 𑀓𑀫𑁆𑀫 (kamma) Hindi काम Inherited from Prakrit 𑀓𑀫𑁆𑀫 (kamma), from Ashokan Prakrit…” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
wish, desire, longing (, my wish is that you should eat, ), desire for, longing after (gen. dat., or loc.), love, affection, object of desire or of love or of pleasure, &c.
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (11)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "kāma" is the vocative of "kāmā" — the same word in a different grammatical case.
M3 · meaning shifts "kāma" is derived from "kām" with the aṇ/añ suffix — a related word whose meaning shifts, so both meanings are shown.
kām ind. an interjection used in calling out to another, L.
kām ind. An interjection used in calling out to another.
kāma &c. See s.v.
kāma m. (fr. √ 2. kam; once kāma, VS. xx, 60), wish, desire, longing (kāmo me bhuñjīta bhavān, my wish is that you should eat, Pāṇ. iii, 3, 153), desire for, longing after (gen. dat., or loc.), love, affection, object of desire or of love or of pleasure, RV.; VS.; TS.; AV.; ŚBr.; MBh.; R. &c.
Related forms
Dictionary citations
kāma &c. See s.v.
kāma m. (fr. √ 2. kam; once kāma, VS. xx, 60), wish, desire, longing (kāmo me bhuñjīta bhavān, my wish is that you should eat, Pāṇ. iii, 3, 153), desire for, longing after (gen. dat., or loc.), love, affection, object of desire or of love or of pleasure, RV.; VS.; TS.; AV.; ŚBr.; MBh.; R. &c.
pleasure, enjoyment
love, especially sexual love or sensuality
Love or Desire personified, AV. ix, xii, xix (cf. RV. x, 129, 4), VS.; PārGṛ.
kāmā f. ‘wish, desire’ (only instr. kāmayā, q.v.)
N. of a daughter of Pṛthuśravas and wife of Ayuta-nāyin, MBh. i, 3774
kām ind. an interjection used in calling out to another, L.
kām ind. An interjection used in calling out to another.
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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