As a deity name
Name 33 of the Ganesha Sahasranāma — Ganesha Purana (Upasana Khanda), as taught by Sage Vyasa / Lord Ganesha
Name 27 of the Saraswati Sahasranāma — Skanda Purana, as taught by Lord Brahma / Sages
As a Hindi name
विनायक · vi-nāyak · s.m.
(f. -ikā), A remover (of obstacles) — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 1202
विनायक · masculine
Vinayaka, an epithet of Lord Ganesha; a male given name, Vinayaka or Vinayak, from Sanskrit
विनायक
remover of obstacles
Śabdasāgara also records: गणों के नायक, गणेश · गरुड़
Cited formation "विनायक" is वि- + नायक: नायक means "hero", and the prefix वि- forms lacking, away, special, various, opposite. CHD Basic Grammar App. I §3(16) — cited from the extracted rule table
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi विनायक — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Borrowed from Sanskrit विनायक (vināyaka).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
vi-nāyaka &c. See under vi-√ nī.
vi-nāyaka mf(ikā)n. taking away, removing, MW.
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
a Guru or spiritual preceptor
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (9)Why this matches what you typed
The spelling you confirmed, विनायक, is itself a dictionary headword — no grammatical transformation stands between what you typed and the meaning above.
Dictionary citations
vi-nāyaka &c. See under vi-√ nī.
vi-nāyaka mf(ikā)n. taking away, removing, MW.
vi-nāyaka m. ‘Remover (of obstacles)’, N. of Gaṇeśa, Yājñ.; VarBṛS. &c.
a leader, guide, MBh.; R.
a Guru or spiritual preceptor, L.
Alternative readings
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Caveats
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