rishi
/ˈrɪʃi/
rishi noun: a Vedic poet and seer who composed Rigvedic hymns, who alone or with others invokes the deities with poetry of a sacred character.
Noun
rishi (plural rishis)
- A Vedic poet and seer who composed Rigvedic hymns, who alone or with others invokes the deities with poetry of a sacred character.
- The rishi asked one unfathomable question after another, until both he and his audience were reduced to the silence of unknowing.2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books, published 2007, page 25
- A Hindu sage or saint occupying the same position in India's history as the patriarchs of other countries, constituting a peculiar class of beings in the early mythical system, as distinct from Asuras, Devas and mortal men.
- In the beginning Max had no idea she was even a film actress, this girl with the skin the colour of scorched earth, the well-concealed body and the demure manner of a disciple walking in the footsteps of a great rishi.2005, Salman Rushdie, Shalimar the Clown, Vintage, published 2006, page 25
Proper noun capitalized: Rishi
Rishi (plural Rishis or Rishies)
- A South Asian male given name from Sanskrit.
- A South Asian surname from Sanskrit
rishi meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
rishi in Hindi
- (post-Vedic) a Hindu sage or saint
- ऋषि ŕṣi
rishi in Tamil
- (post-Vedic) a Hindu sage or saint
- ரிஷி riṣi
rishi in Marathi
- (post-Vedic) a Hindu sage or saint
- ऋषी ŕṣī
rishi in Urdu
- (post-Vedic) a Hindu sage or saint
- رِشی riśī
More languagesFewer languages
- rishi in Bengali
- ঋষি riśi
- rishi in Telugu
- ఋషి r̥ṣi
- rishi in Malayalam
- ഋഷി r̥ṣi
- rishi in Kannada
- ಋಷಿ ṛṣi
- rishi in Punjabi
- ਰਿਸ਼ੀ riśī
- rishi in Gujarati
- ઋષિ ŕṣi
- rishi in Sanskrit
- ऋषि ṛṣi
- rishi in Assamese
- ঋষি rixi
- rishi in Nepali
- ऋषि r̥ṣi
- rishi in Arabic
- رِيشِي rīšī
- rishi in Persian
- ریشی riši
- rishi in Thai
- ฤๅษี rʉʉ-sǐi
- rishi in Vietnamese
- tiên nhân
- rishi in Myanmar
- ရသေ့ ra.se.
Forms of rishi
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | rishis |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Rishis |
| plural | Rishies |
Origin of rishi
From Sanskrit ऋषि (ṛ́ṣi), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *r̥šíš (whence Avestan 𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬴𐬌𐬴 (ərəṣ̌iṣ̌, “seer”)), probably related to अर्षति (árṣati, “to flow, pour”).
From Sanskrit ऋषि (ṛṣi, “rishi, sage”), via New Indo-Aryan languages, such as Punjabi ਰਿਸ਼ੀ (riśī). Compare rishi.
Words that rhyme with rishi
Questions about rishi
- What does rishi mean?
- Rishi means a Vedic poet and seer who composed Rigvedic hymns, who alone or with others invokes the deities with poetry of a sacred character.
- What is rishi in Hindi?
- Rishi in Hindi is ऋषि (ŕṣi). See Rishi meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is rishi?
- Rishi can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce rishi?
- Rishi is pronounced /ˈrɪʃi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of rishi?
- The plural of rishi is rishis.
Words near rishi in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rishi (page history and authors); Rishi (page history and authors); ऋषि (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-rishi.wav.
Cite this entry: “rishi.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rishi. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.