As a deity name
Name 52 of the Shiva Sahasranāma — Mahabharata (Anushasana Parva), as taught by Sage Tandi to Sage Upamanyu
Name 161 of the Vishnu Sahasranāma — Mahabharata (Anushasana Parva), as taught by Bhishma to Yudhishthira on his deathbed
As a Hindi name
नियम · noun · masculine
विधि या निश्चय के अनुकूल प्रातिबंध । परिमिति । रोक । पाबंदी । नियंत्रण । जैसे,—तुम कोई काम नियम से नहीं करते — Śabdasāgara
नियम · niyam · s.m.
Restraining, checking; preventing — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 1169
नियम · masculine
rule, law, principle, observance
Cited formation "नियम" is नि- + यम: यम means "Yama, god of death", and the prefix नि- forms lacking, without. CHD Basic Grammar App. I §4(4) — cited from the extracted rule table
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi नियम — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Borrowed from Sanskrit नियम (niyama). Doublet of नेम (nem).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
ni-˚yama m. restraining, checking, holding back, preventing, controlling, Mn.; MBh. &c.
keeping down, lowering (as the voice), RPrāt.
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
any act of voluntary penance or meritorious piety (esp. a lesser vow or minor observance dependent on external conditions and not so obligatory as yama, q.v.), &c.
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (11)Why this matches what you typed
The spelling you confirmed, नियम, is itself a dictionary headword — no grammatical transformation stands between what you typed and the meaning above.
Dictionary citations
ni-˚yama m. restraining, checking, holding back, preventing, controlling, Mn.; MBh. &c.
keeping down, lowering (as the voice), RPrāt.
limitation, restriction (˚mena ind. with restrictions i.e. under certain conditions, Car.)
reduction or restriction to (with loc. or prati), determination, definition, GṛŚrS.; Prāt.; MBh.; Rājat.
any fixed rule or law, necessity, obligation (˚mena ind. and ˚māt ind. as a rule, necessarily, invariably, surely), Var.; R.; Suśr. &c.
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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