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  • lila
    lila
    noun
    creation, seen as the playful activity of a god.
  • Lila
    Lila
    noun
    a female given name, form of Leila.

lila

1 American  
[lee-lah] / ˈli lɑ /

noun

Hinduism.
  1. creation, seen as the playful activity of a god.


Lila 2 American  
[lahy-luh] / ˈlaɪ lə /

noun

  1. a female given name, form of Leila.


Etymology

Origin of lila

First recorded in 1820–30, lila is from the Sanskrit word līlā play, sport, diversion

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Sanskrit title derives from two words: turanga, meaning flowing time, movement or rhythm; and lila, or love, sport, the play of the gods.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is not certain that this was the only visitation of the epidemic called lila.

From The Fijians A Study of the Decay of Custom by Thomson, Basil

The /lilu/, in Sumerian /lila/, is generally regarded as "the night-monster," the word being referred to the Semitic root /lîl/ or /layl/, whence the Hebrew /layil/, Arabic /layl/, "night."

From The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria by Pinches, Theophilus Goldridge

Its origin, however, is Sumerian, from /lila/, regarded as meaning "mist."

From The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria by Pinches, Theophilus Goldridge

Now, as I have already said, the great chief of Mbau, Mbanuve, died of the lila, and was thereafter known as Mbale-i-vavalangi—the victim of the foreign disease.

From The Fijians A Study of the Decay of Custom by Thomson, Basil