shiva
/ˈʃiːvə//ˈʃɪvə/
shiva noun: a weeklong period of formal mourning for a close relative.
Noun
shiva (countable and uncountable, plural shivas)
- A weeklong period of formal mourning for a close relative.
- Did you know that some parents sit shiva […] for 30 days if their child is discovered to be gay?1974 February 2, “Jewish Gay Group”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 32, page 2
- Seymour: Audrey, quick! We've got to do an emergency [flower] arrangement.
[…]
Mr. Mushnik: The Shivas are our most important funereal account. A big, enormous family, they're dropping off like flies!1986, Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film)
Proper noun capitalized: Shiva
Shiva
- The god of destruction and transformation, and together with Brahma and Vishnu, one of the principal deities in Hinduism. Within Shaivism he is viewed as the Supreme deity, whereas in other branches of Hinduism such as the Smarta tradition he is worshipped as one of the six manifestations of the Divine.
- The later Bhaumas who were originally Buddhists became worshippers of Siva as is known from their inscriptions.1964, Nabin Kumar Sahu, Utkal University History Of Orissa, volume 1, The Utkal University, page 7
- Again Shiva was the subject — Shiva with his dance of creation and destruction, the most philosophically profound of the many dances that pervade Indian thought.2015 August 30, Alastair Macaulay, “Review: At Indian Dance Festival, Subtleties in the Sway of a Torso”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2022
- A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.
shiva meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
shiva in Hindi
- Shiva
- अहिभृत् ahibhŕt
shiva in Tamil
- சிவன், சைவ சமயக் கடவுள்
shiva in Marathi
- शिव, शिवा
shiva in Urdu
- شیو, شیوا
More languagesFewer languages
- shiva in Bengali
- অক্ষোভ্য ôkkhobbhô
- shiva in Telugu
- శివుడు, శివ
- shiva in Malayalam
- പശുപതി paśupati, പടച്ചോൻ paṭaccōṉ
- shiva in Kannada
- ಶಿವ, ಶಿವನು
- shiva in Punjabi
- ਸ਼ਿਵ, ਸ਼ਿਵਾ
- shiva in Gujarati
- શિવ, શિવા
- shiva in Odia
- ଶିବ
- shiva in Sanskrit
- अहिभृत् ahibhṛt, ण ṇa, ज já, दण्ड daṇḍá
- shiva in Nepali
- शिव, शिवा
Forms of shiva
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | shivas |
| alternative form | shibah |
| alternative form | shiv'ah |
| alternative form | shivah |
| alternative form | shive |
| Proper noun | |
| alternative form | Śiva |
| alternative form | Shiv |
| alternative form | Shivan |
| alternative form | Siva |
Origin of shiva
From Hebrew שִׁבְעָה (shiv'á, “seven”), referring to the number of days that shiva spans. The pronunciation is likely in part from Yiddish שבֿעה (shive).
Borrowed from Sanskrit शिव (śivá, “the auspicious one”).
Words formed from shiva
Phrases with shiva
Words that rhyme with shiva
Questions about shiva
- What does shiva mean?
- Shiva means a weeklong period of formal mourning for a close relative.
- What is shiva in Hindi?
- Shiva in Hindi is अहिभृत् (ahibhŕt). See Shiva meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is shiva?
- Shiva can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce shiva?
- Shiva is pronounced /ˈʃɪvə/ (US).
- What is the plural of shiva?
- The plural of shiva is shivas.
Words near shiva in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: shiva (page history and authors); Shiva (page history and authors); अहिभृत् (Hindi) (page history and authors); shiva (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); shiva (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shiva (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); অক্ষোভ্য (Bengali) (page history and authors); shiva (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); പടച്ചോൻ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); shiva (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shiva (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shiva (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shiva (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); अहिभृत् (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); shiva (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-shiva.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Shiva.wav.
Cite this entry: “shiva.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shiva. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.