अंशु

From Proto-Indo-Aryan *Hanśúṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hanćúš, possibly from the BMAC substrate per Lubotsky. Cognate with Younger Avestan 𐬄𐬯𐬎 (ąsu).

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.ɕú/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /ˈɐ̃.ɕu/

अंशु • (aṃśú) stem, m

1. filament, stalk, beam (especially of the Soma plant)
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 4.22.8:

     पि॒पी॒ळे अं॒शुर्मद्यो॒ न सिन्धु॒रा त्वा॒ शमी॑ शशमा॒नस्य॑ श॒क्तिः।
     अ॒स्म॒द्र्य॑क्छुशुचा॒नस्य॑ यम्या आ॒शुर्न र॒श्मिं तु॒व्योज॑सं॒ गोः॥

     pipīḷé aṃśúrmádyo ná síndhurā́ tvā śámī śaśamānásya śaktíḥ.
     asmadryàkchuśucānásya yamyā āśúrná raśmíṃ tuvyójasaṃ góḥ.

     Pressed is the gladdening stalk as ’twere a river: so let the rite, the toiler's power, attract thee To us-ward, of the Bright One, as the courser strains his. exceedingly strong leather bridle.

2. kind of Soma libation
3. thread
4. end of a thread, a minute particle
5. point, end
6. array, sunbeam
7. cloth
8. name of a rishi
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 8.5.26:

     यथो॒त कृत्व्ये॒ धनें॒ अं॒शुं गोष्व॒गस्त्य॑म्।
     यथा॒ वाजे॑षु॒ सोभ॑रिम्॥

     yáthotá kṛ́tvye dháneṃ aṃśúṃ góṣvagástyam.
     yáthā vā́jeṣu sóbharim.

     And in like manner as you protected Aṃśú when wealth was to be bestowed, and Agastya when his cattle were to be recovered, and Sobhari when food was to be supplied to him.

9. name of an ancient Vedic teacher, son of a धनंजय (dhanaṃjaya)
10. name of a prince

• सुधांशु (sudhāṃśu)

• Pali: aṃsu
• Prakrit: 𑀅𑀁𑀲𑀼 (aṃsu)
  • Assamese: আঁহ (ãh)
  • Bengali: আঁশ (ãś)
  • Rohingya: añc

• Monier Williams (1899) “अंशु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 0001.
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “aṁśú”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 1