What does Hanuman's name mean?

Question

Ok, I'm not sure what Hanuman's name means, but I believe it to mean something like killing of something and here's why. In my Sanskrit classes the root han means to kill, which is a second parismaipada; Hanuman's name also begins with han. Secondly, another Sanskrit word for killing is hananam, which is a napumsakalinga and hananam sounds almost like Hanuman. So, what exactly does the name Hanuman mean?

Answer 1

1. parasmaipada, not paris--you'll soon find that sanskritists are all about the persnickety.

2. hanana, from which hananam is derived, is a कृत् प्रत्यय kt pratyaya, a suffix used to make a noun or adjective from a verb. Its like gamana, going. Declined as hananam it could be neuter, but it could also be 2nd singular masc. hanana is actually m/f/n.

3. look up hanu in your dictionary: it means jaw or chin.

4. the suffix here is mat, which has three stems: mat, mant, and, in the nominative singular, man. It means having, possessed of, etc. So hanuman is the jaw-haver, the one with the [noteworthy] jaw. Look at any of the iconography and you'll see his jaw is quite pronounced.

PS--not to be snarky, but the first answerer totally takes the question wrong. This guy's asking linguistics, not religious iconography, etc.

it would be awesome if there were an 'answers' just for sanskrit.

Answer 2

(Hinduism) monkey god of Hindu mythology, leader of monkeys and assistant of Rama

small monkey native to southern Asia with stubbly hairs on the head and the sides of the face