तनू

See also: तन, तनु, तन्, ताना, तीन, तान, and तानि

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Alternative scripts

• তনূ (Assamese script)
• ᬢᬦᬹ (Balinese script)
• তনূ (Bengali script)
• 𑰝𑰡𑰳 (Bhaiksuki script)
• 𑀢𑀦𑀽 (Brahmi script)
• တနူ (Burmese script)
• તનૂ (Gujarati script)
• ਤਨੂ (Gurmukhi script)
• 𑌤𑌨𑍂 (Grantha script)
• ꦠꦤꦹ (Javanese script)
• 𑂞𑂢𑂴 (Kaithi script)
• ತನೂ (Kannada script)
• តនូ (Khmer script)
• ຕນູ (Lao script)
• തനൂ (Malayalam script)
• ᢠᠠᠨᡠᡠ (Manchu script)
• 𑘝𑘡𑘴 (Modi script)
• ᢐᠠᠨᠤᠤ (Mongolian script)
• 𑦽𑧁𑧕 (Nandinagari script)
• 𑐟𑐣𑐹 (Newa script)
• ତନୂ (Odia script)
• ꢡꢥꢹ (Saurashtra script)
• 𑆠𑆤𑆷 (Sharada script)
• 𑖝𑖡𑖳 (Siddham script)
• තනූ (Sinhalese script)
• 𑩫𑩯𑩒𑩛 (Soyombo script)
• 𑚙𑚝𑚱 (Takri script)
• தநூ (Tamil script)
• తనూ (Telugu script)
• ตนู (Thai script)
• ཏ་ནཱུ (Tibetan script)
• 𑒞𑒢𑒴 (Tirhuta script)
• 𑨙𑨝𑨃𑨊 (Zanabazar Square script)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *tanúHs (“body, self”), from Proto-Indo-European *tenuh₂- (“body”). Cognate with Avestan 𐬙𐬀𐬥𐬎 (tanu, “body, self”), Old Persian 𐎫𐎵𐎢𐏁 (t-nu-u-š /⁠tanūš⁠/). The reflexive use is an Indo-Iranian innovation.

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /tɐ.núː/, /tɐ́.nuː/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /t̪ɐ.n̪uː/

Noun

तनू • (tanū́ or tánū) stem, f

1. body
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 10.183.2:

     अप॑श्यं त्वा॒ मन॑सा॒ दीध्या॑नां॒ स्वायां॑ त॒नू ऋत्व्ये॒ नाध॑मानां ।
     उप॒ मामु॒च्चा यु॑व॒तिर्ब॑भूयाः॒ प्र जा॑यस्व प्र॒जया॑ पुत्रकामे ॥

     ápaśyaṃ tvā mánasā dī́dhyānāṃ svā́yāṃ tanū́ ṛ́tvye nā́dhamānāṃ.
     úpa mā́muccā́ yuvatírbabhūyāḥ prá jāyasva prajáyā putrakāme.

     I saw thee pondering in thine heart, and praying that in due time thy body might be fruitful.
     Come as a youthful woman, rise to meet me: spread in thine offspring, thou who cravest children.

2. person, self (often used like a reflexive noun)
3. form or manifestation

Declension

Feminine ū-stem declension of तनू

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	तनूः (tanū́ḥ)	तनू (tanū́) तन्वा (tanvā̀) तनुवौ (tanúvau) तन्वौ (tanvau)	तन्वः (tanvàḥ) तनुवः (tanúvaḥ)
vocative	तनु (tánu)	तन्वौ (tánvau) तनू¹ (tánū¹)	तन्वः (tánvaḥ) तनूः¹ (tánūḥ¹)
accusative	तन्वम् (tanvàm) तनुवम् (tanuvam)	तन्वौ (tanvaù) तनू¹ (tanū́¹)	तन्वः (tanvàḥ)
instrumental	तनुवा (tanuvā)	तनूभ्याम् (tanū́bhyām)	तनूभिः (tanū́bhiḥ)
dative	तन्वै (tanvaí)	तनूभ्याम् (tanū́bhyām)	तनूभ्यः (tanū́bhyaḥ)
ablative	तन्वः (tanvàḥ)	तनूभ्याम् (tanū́bhyām)	तनूभ्यः (tanū́bhyaḥ)
genitive	तन्वः (tanvàḥ)	तन्वोः (tanvóḥ)	तनूनाम् (tanū́nām)
locative	तन्वि (tanvì) तन्वी (tanvī̀) तन्वाम् (tanvā̀m)	तन्वोः (tanvóḥ)	तनूषु (tanū́ṣu)

• ¹Vedic

Descendants

• Pali: tanu
• Prakrit: 𑀢𑀡𑀽 (taṇū)
  • Marathi: तन (tan)
  • Hindustani:
    • Hindi: तन (tan)
    • Urdu: تن (tan)
  • Punjabi: ਤੰਨ (tanna)
• → Kannada: ತನುವು (tanuvu)
• → Telugu: తనువు (tanuvu)
• → Thai: ตนุ

References

• Monier Williams (1899) “तनू”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 435/3.
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎ (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 621-2

Further reading

• Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2025) “tanū”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.