As a deity name
Name 384 of the Hanuman Sahasranāma — Rasvin Samhita / Brahmanda Purana, as taught by Lord Ram / Sages
Name 423 of the Surya Sahasranāma — Bhavishya Purana, as taught by Lord Brahma / Sages
Name 51 of the Vishnu Sahasranāma — Mahabharata (Anushasana Parva), as taught by Bhishma to Yudhishthira on his deathbed
As a Hindi name
मनु · noun · masculine
ब्रह्मा के पुत्र जो मनुष्यों के मूल पुरुष माने जाते हैं · विष्णु · अंतःकरण । मन — Śabdasāgara
मनु · noun · feminine
मनु की स्त्री । मनावी · बनमेथी का साग । पृक्का — Śabdasāgara
मनु · manu · s.m.
See منو manu — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 1069
मनु · manu · s.m.
A man (in general); the representative man, and father of the human race, Manu, the legislator and saint, son of Brahmā, or personification of Brahmā himself (the name is, however, a generic term; and in every kalpa, or interval from one creation to another, there are fourteen successive Manus presiding over the universe, each of them for a period called manvantara; the first in order of these Manus is called Svayambhuva, as sprung from Svayam-bhū, 'the Self-existent,' and to him is ascribed the celebrated law-book known as the 'code of Manu' — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 1081
मनु · masculine
Manu
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi मनु — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Borrowed from Sanskrit मनु (mánu).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
manu mfn. thinking, wise, intelligent, VS.; ŚBr.
manu m. ‘the thinking creature (?)’, man, mankind, RV.; VS.; AitBr.; TĀr. (also as opp. to evil spirits, RV. i, 130, 8; viii, 98, 6 &c.; the Ṛbhus are called manor napātaḥ, the sons of man, iii, 60, 3)
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
the Man par excellence or the representative man and father of the human race (regarded in the as the first to have instituted sacrifices and religious ceremonies, and associated w…
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (2)Why this matches what you typed
The spelling you confirmed, मनु, is itself a dictionary headword — no grammatical transformation stands between what you typed and the meaning above.
Gender counterpart
The kosha attests this stem in the feminine, the masculine, and the neuter — the same name serves without alteration.
Dictionary citations
manu mfn. thinking, wise, intelligent, VS.; ŚBr.
manu m. ‘the thinking creature (?)’, man, mankind, RV.; VS.; AitBr.; TĀr. (also as opp. to evil spirits, RV. i, 130, 8; viii, 98, 6 &c.; the Ṛbhus are called manor napātaḥ, the sons of man, iii, 60, 3)
the Man par excellence or the representative man and father of the human race (regarded in the RV. as the first to have instituted sacrifices and religious ceremonies, and associated with the Ṛṣis Kaṇva and Atri; in the AitBr. described as dividing his possessions among some of his sons to the exclusion of one called Nābhā-nediṣṭha q.v.; called Sāṃvaraṇa as author of RV. ix, 101, 10-12; Āpsava as author of ib. 106, 7-9; in Naigh. v, 6 he is numbered among the 31 divine beings of the upper sphere, and VS. xi, 66 as father of men even identified with Prajā-pati; but the name Manu is esp. applied to 14 successive mythical progenitors and sovereigns of the earth, described, Mn. i, 63 and in later works as creating and supporting this world through successive Antaras or long periods of time See manv-antara below; the first is called Svāyambhuva as sprung from svayam-bhū, the Self-existent, and described in Mn. i, 34 as a sort of secondary creator, who commenced his work by producing 10 Prajāpatis or Maharṣis, of whom the first was marīci, Light; to this Manu is ascribed the celebrated ‘code of Manu’, see manu-saṃhitā, and two ancient Sūtra works on Kalpa and Gṛhya i.e. sacrificial and domestic rites; he is also called Hairaṇyagarbha as son of Hiraṇya-garbha, and Prācetasa, as son of Pra-cetas; the next 5 Manus are called Svārociṣa, Auttami, Tāmasa, Raivata, Cākṣuṣa cf. IW. 208 n. 1; the 7th Manu, called vaivasvata, Sun-born, or from his piety, satya-vrata, is regarded as the progenitor of the present race of living beings, and said, like the Noah of the Old Testament, to have been preserved from a great flood by Viṣṇu or Brahmā in the form of a fish: he is also variously described as one of the 12 Ādityas, as the author of RV. viii, 27-31, as the brother of Yama, who as a son of the Sun is also called Vaivasvata, as the founder and first king of Ayodhyā, and as father of Ilā who married Budha, son of the Moon, the two great solar and lunar races being thus nearly related to each other See IW. 344; 373; the 8th Manu or first of the future Manus accord. to VP. iii, 2, will be Sāvarṇi; the 9th Dakṣa-sāvarṇi; the 10th Brahma-sāvarṇi; the 11th Dharma-sāvarṇi; the 12th Rudra-sāvarṇi; the 13th Raucya or Deva-sāvarṇi; the 14th Bhautya or Indra-s˚)
thought (= manas), TS.; Br.
a sacred text, prayer, incantation, spell (= mantra), RāmatUp.; Pañcar.; Pratāp.
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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