कुङ्कुम

कुङ्कुम

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Alternative scripts

• ᬓᬸᬗ᭄ᬓᬸᬫ (Balinese script)
• কুঙ্কুম (Assamese script)
• কুঙ্কুম (Bengali script)
• 𑰎𑰲𑰒𑰿𑰎𑰲𑰦 (Bhaiksuki script)
• 𑀓𑀼𑀗𑁆𑀓𑀼𑀫 (Brahmi script)
• 𑌕𑍁𑌙𑍍𑌕𑍁𑌮 (Grantha script)
• કુઙ્કુમ (Gujarati script)
• ਕੁਙੑਕੁਮ (Gurmukhi script)
• ꦏꦸꦔ꧀ꦏꦸꦩ (Javanese script)
• កុង្កុម (Khmer script)
• ಕುಙ್ಕುಮ (Kannada script)
• ກຸງ຺ກຸມ (Lao script)
• കുങ്കുമ (Malayalam script)
• 𑘎𑘳𑘒𑘿𑘎𑘳𑘦 (Modi script)
• ᢉᠤᢊᢉᠤᠮᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
• ᡬᡠᢛᡬᡠᠮᠠ (Manchu script)
• ကုင်္ကုမ (Burmese script)
• 𑦮𑧔𑦲𑧠𑦮𑧔𑧆 (Nandinagari script)
• 𑐎𑐸𑐒𑑂𑐎𑐸𑐩 (Newa script)
• କୁଙ୍କୁମ (Oriya script)
• ꢒꢸꢖ꣄ꢒꢸꢪ (Saurashtra script)
• 𑆑𑆶𑆕𑇀𑆑𑆶𑆩 (Sharada script)
• 𑖎𑖲𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖲𑖦 (Siddham script)
• කුඞ්කුම (Sinhalese script)
• కుఙ్కుమ (Telugu script)
• กุงฺกุม (Thai script)
• ཀུ་ངྐུ་མ (Tibetan script)
• 𑒏𑒳𑒓𑓂𑒏𑒳𑒧 (Tirhuta script)

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /kuŋ.ku.mɐ/
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkuŋ.ku.mɐ/

Noun

कुङ्कुम • (kuṅkuma) n

1. saffron

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:केसर

2. kumkum
   • c. 700 CE – 900 CE, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.11.33:

     गोप्यो रूढरथा नूत्नकुचकुङ्कुमकान्तयः। कृष्णलीला जगुः प्रीत्या निष्ककण्ठ्यः सुवाससः॥

     gopyo rūḍharathā nūtnakucakuṅkumakāntayaḥ. kṛṣṇalīlā jaguḥ prītyā niṣkakaṇṭhyaḥ suvāsasaḥ.

     The cowherd women, riding on the bullock carts, were dressed very nicely with excellent garments, and their bodies, especially their breasts, were decorated with fresh kuṅkuma powder. As they rode, they began to chant with great pleasure the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa.

   • c. 700 CE – 900 CE, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.5.10:

     नवकुङ्कुमकिञ्जल्कमुखपङ्कजभूतयः। बलिभिस्त्वरितं जग्मुः पृथुश्रोण्यश्चलत्कुचाः॥

     navakuṅkumakiñjalkamukhapaṅkajabhūtayaḥ. balibhistvaritaṃ jagmuḥ pṛthuśroṇyaścalatkucāḥ.

     Their lotuslike faces extraordinarily beautiful, being decorated with saffron and newly grown kuṅkuma, the wives of the cowherd men hurried to the house of mother Yaśodā with presentations in their hands. Because of natural beauty, the wives had full hips and full breasts, which moved as they hurried along.

Declension

Neuter a-stem declension of कुङ्कुम (kuṅkuma)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	कुङ्कुमम् kuṅkumam	कुङ्कुमे kuṅkume	कुङ्कुमानि / कुङ्कुमा¹ kuṅkumāni / kuṅkumā¹
Vocative	कुङ्कुम kuṅkuma	कुङ्कुमे kuṅkume	कुङ्कुमानि / कुङ्कुमा¹ kuṅkumāni / kuṅkumā¹
Accusative	कुङ्कुमम् kuṅkumam	कुङ्कुमे kuṅkume	कुङ्कुमानि / कुङ्कुमा¹ kuṅkumāni / kuṅkumā¹
Instrumental	कुङ्कुमेन kuṅkumena	कुङ्कुमाभ्याम् kuṅkumābhyām	कुङ्कुमैः / कुङ्कुमेभिः¹ kuṅkumaiḥ / kuṅkumebhiḥ¹
Dative	कुङ्कुमाय kuṅkumāya	कुङ्कुमाभ्याम् kuṅkumābhyām	कुङ्कुमेभ्यः kuṅkumebhyaḥ
Ablative	कुङ्कुमात् kuṅkumāt	कुङ्कुमाभ्याम् kuṅkumābhyām	कुङ्कुमेभ्यः kuṅkumebhyaḥ
Genitive	कुङ्कुमस्य kuṅkumasya	कुङ्कुमयोः kuṅkumayoḥ	कुङ्कुमानाम् kuṅkumānām
Locative	कुङ्कुमे kuṅkume	कुङ्कुमयोः kuṅkumayoḥ	कुङ्कुमेषु kuṅkumeṣu
Notes	¹Vedic

Descendants

• Pali: kuṅkuma
• Prakrit: 𑀓𑀼𑀁𑀓𑀼𑀫 (kuṃkuma) (see there for further descendants)
• → Arabic: كركم‎ (kurkum)
• → Kannada: ಕುಂಕುಮ (kuṅkuma)
• → Malayalam: കുങ്കുമം (kuṅkumaṃ)
• → Tamil: குங்குமம் (kuṅkumam)
• → Telugu: కుంకుమ (kuṅkuma)

Further reading

• Monier Williams (1899), “कुङ्कुम”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, OCLC 458052227, page 287, column 3.
• Hellwig, Oliver (2010-2023), “kuṅkuma”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.
• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890), “कुङ्कुम”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan
• Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1893), “कुङ्कुम”, in A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout, London: Oxford University Press
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “kuṅkuma”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press