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lingam

[ling-guh m]
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noun
  1. Sanskrit Grammar. the masculine gender.
  2. (in popular Hinduism) a phallus, symbol of Siva.
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Also lin·ga [ling-guh] /ˈlɪŋ gə/.
Compare yoni.

Origin of lingam

From the Sanskrit word liṅga mark, gender, phallus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for linga

Historical Examples

  • We returned to Linga, and all embarked in a little schooner for home.

    Sketches of Our Life at Sarawak

    Harriette McDougall

  • This tīrtha is next poured over the linga attached to the infant.

  • The linga is suspended round the neck of the corpse, and buried with it.

  • The child is thus invested with the linga while still in utero.

  • The Linga Purana tells us that the linga was a pillar of fire in which Siva was present.

    Bible Studies

    Joseph M. Wheeler

British Dictionary definitions for linga

lingam

linga (ˈlɪŋɡə)

noun
  1. (in Sanskrit grammar) the masculine gender
    1. the Hindu phallic image of the god Siva
    2. the penis
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Word Origin

C18: from Sanskrit
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for linga

lingam

n.

"phallic emblem under which Siva is worshipped," 1719, from Sanskrit linga (nominative lingam) "mark, token, sign, emblem," of unknown origin.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper