# मेष
## Hindi
### Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit मेष (meṣá).

### Pronunciation

* (Delhi) IPA: /meːʂ/, [meːʃ]

### Noun

मेष • (meṣ) m (Urdu spelling میش)
* ram
    Synonym: भेड़ (bheṛ)
* sheep
* (astrology) the sign of the zodiac Aries or the first arc of 30 degrees in a circle

#### Declension
### See also

Zodiac signs in Hindi · राशियाँ (rāśiyā̃) (layout · text) :
| मेष (meṣ) | वृष (vŕṣ) | मिथुन (mithun) | कर्क (kark) |
| सिंह (sĩh) | कन्या (kanyā) | तुला (tulā) | वृश्चिक (vŕścik) |
| धनु (dhanu) | मकर (makar) | कुंभ (kumbh) | मीना (mīnā) |

## Marathi
### Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit मेष (meṣá).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /meʂ/

### Noun

मेष • (meṣ) m
* sheep
    Synonym: मेंढी (meṇḍhī)
* (astrology) the sign of the zodiac Aries

### See also

Zodiac signs in Marathi · रास (rās) (layout · text) :
| मेष (meṣ) | वृषभ (vruṣabh) | मिथुन (mithun) | कर्क (karka) |
| सिंह (siuha) | कन्या (kanyā) | तूळ (tūḷ) | वृश्चिक (vruścik) |
| धनु (dhanu) | मकर (makar) | कुंभ (kumbha) | मीन (mīn) |

## Sanskrit
### Alternative scripts

* মেষ (Assamese script)
* ᬫᬾᬱ (Balinese script)
* মেষ (Bengali script)
* 𑰦𑰸𑰬 (Bhaiksuki script)
* 𑀫𑁂𑀱 (Brahmi script)
* မေၑ (Burmese script)
* મેષ (Gujarati script)
* ਮੇਸ਼ (Gurmukhi script)
* 𑌮𑍇𑌷 (Grantha script)
* ꦩꦺꦰ (Javanese script)
* 𑂧𑂵𑂭 (Kaithi script)
* ಮೇಷ (Kannada script)
* មេឞ (Khmer script)
* ເມຩ (Lao script)
* മേഷ (Malayalam script)
* ᠮᡝᢢᠠ (Manchu script)
* 𑘦𑘹𑘬 (Modi script)
* ᠮᠧᢔᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
* 𑧆𑧚𑧌 (Nandinagari script)
* 𑐩𑐾𑐲 (Newa script)
* ମେଷ (Odia script)
* ꢪꢾꢰ (Saurashtra script)
* 𑆩𑆼𑆰 (Sharada script)
* 𑖦𑖸𑖬 (Siddham script)
* මෙෂ (Sinhalese script)
* 𑩴𑩔𑪀 (Soyombo script)
* 𑚢𑚲 (Takri script)
* மேஷ (Tamil script)
* మేష (Telugu script)
* เมษ (Thai script)
* མེ་ཥ (Tibetan script)
* 𑒧𑒹𑒭 (Tirhuta script)
* 𑨢𑨄𑨯 (Zanabazar Square script)

### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Indo-Iranian *mayšás, from Proto-Indo-European *moysós. Cognate with Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬉𐬱𐬀 (maēša), Persian میش (miš), Proto-Slavic *mě̑xъ (“leather bag, sack”).

### Pronunciation

* (Vedic) IPA: /mɐj.ʂɐ́/
* (Classical Sanskrit) IPA: /meː.ʂɐ/

### Noun

मे॒ष • (meṣá) stem, m
* ram, sheep
** c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.52.1:त्यं सु मे॒षं म॑हया स्व॒र्विदं॑ श॒तं यस्य॑ सु॒भ्वः॑ सा॒कमीर॑ते। अत्यं॒ न वाजं॑ हवन॒स्यदं॒ रथ॒मेन्द्रं॑ ववृत्या॒मव॑से सुवृ॒क्तिभिः॑॥tyáṃ sú meṣáṃ mahayā svarvídaṃ śatáṃ yásya subhvàḥ sākámī́rate. átyaṃ ná vā́jaṃ havanasyádaṃ ráthaméndraṃ vavṛtyāmávase suvṛktíbhiḥ.Worship well that ram who makes heaven known, whom a hundred worshippers at once are assiduous in praising. I implore Indra with many prayers to ascend the car, which hastens like a fleet courser to the sacrificer for my protection.
* (Vedic) fleece; anything woollen
* (astrology) the sign of the zodiac Aries or the first arc of 30 degrees in a circle
* (botany) a species of plant
* name of a particular demon

#### Declension

* ¹Vedic

#### Descendants

* Dardic:
** Kalasha: meṣ
* Prakrit: 𑀫𑁂𑀲 (mesa) (see there for further descendants)

##### Borrowed terms

* → Burmese: မိဿ (mi.ssa.)
* → Kannada: ಮೇಷ (mēṣa)
* → Khmer: មេសា (meisaa)
* → Hindi: मेष (meṣ)
* → Marathi: मेष (meṣ)
* → Odia: ମେଷ (mesha)
* → Tamil: மேஷம் (mēṣam)
* → Thai: เมษ (mêet)
* → Malayalam: മേഷം (mēṣaṁ), മേടം (mēṭaṁ)

### See also

Zodiac signs in Sanskrit · राशिचक्र (rāśicakra) (layout · text) :
| मेष (meṣa) | वृषभ (vṛṣabha) | मिथुन (mithuna) | कर्कटक (karkaṭaka) |
| सिंह (siṃha) | कन्या (kanyā) | तुला (tulā) | वृश्चिक (vṛścika) |
| धनु (dhanu) | मकर (makara) | कुम्भ (kumbha) | मीन (mīna) |

### References

* Monier Williams (1899) “मेष”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 0833.
* Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1893) “मेष”, in A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout, London: Oxford University Press, page 235

### Further reading

* Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2025) “meṣa”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.