Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • interjection Used especially among Hindus to express a polite or respectful greeting or farewell.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • interjection literally, "I humbly bow to you"; also used as a greeting or acknowledgement of the equality of all, and pays honor to the sacredness of all
  • noun the traditional greeting when saying the word namaste with folded hands and a slight bow
  • noun in yoga, the pose associated with this word, usually with the flat hands held palms together, fingers up, in front of the heart and a slight bow

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Ultimately (via Hindi, Punjabi, and other South Asian languages) from Sanskrit namas te, obeisance to you : namaḥ, homage, obeisance; see nem- in Indo-European roots + te, enclitic second person sing. genitive and dative pron.; see tu- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Sanskrit नमस्ते (namaste), from नमस् (námas, "bow, obeisance, reverential salutation"), and ते (te, "to you"), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *namas- (“to bow, prostrate”).

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Examples

  • And either speaking or thinking the word namaste acts as a mantra, a sound that creates a powerful beneficial effect on your awareness.

    Love For No Reason Marci Shimoff 2010

  • And either speaking or thinking the word namaste acts as a mantra, a sound that creates a powerful beneficial effect on your awareness.

    Love For No Reason Marci Shimoff 2010

  • The word namaste is usually accompanied by a gesture: you place your palms together at your heart and bow your head slightly.

    Love For No Reason Marci Shimoff 2010

  • The word namaste is usually accompanied by a gesture: you place your palms together at your heart and bow your head slightly.

    Love For No Reason Marci Shimoff 2010

  • In India, Hindus welcome each guest into their home with the word namaste.

    The Power of Vastu Living Kathleen Cox 2002

  • It's a brand name, the word namaste, the simple gesture with joined palms that seems to say, "Yes, this is India and I am 100 per cent Indian".

    The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) - Frontpage 2010

  • At the end of Fulop's class, smiles spread across the students' faces as they bring their hands together in a prayer position and say "namaste" - a traditional salutation often said at the close of yoga classes.

    Thestar.com - Home Page Melanie Patten 2011

  • The term and action "namaste" - a greeting-is formed by pressing the palms together

    Purchasing - Top Stories 2010

  • The term and action "namaste" - a greeting-is formed by pressing the palms together

    Purchasing - Top Stories 2010

  • The term and action "namaste" - a greeting-is formed by pressing the palms together

    Purchasing - Top Stories 2010

Comments

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  • Namaste

    February 8, 2009

  • Namaste

    March 25, 2009

  • Traditionally said at the end of a yoga class, I've heard this sanskrit word translated as "the light in me salutes the light in you" or "the divine in me honors the divine in you"

    February 11, 2010

  • Ugly little word. I couldn't say it with a straight face. Perhaps while pretending to pick a sunflower seed out of my teeth as I watch an Aboriginal woman break bottles on the footpath across the road.

    February 11, 2010

  • It reminds me of the following excerpt from "Guards! Guards!". It's a conversation in the dwarves' Old Tongue.

    A battered tankard bounced off his breastplate. Carrot reached down and picked up a struggling figure, without apparent effort.

    "J'uk, ydtruz-t'rud-eztuza, hudr'zd dezek drez'huk, huzu-kruk't b'tduz g'ke'k me'ek b'tduz t' be'tk kce'drutk ke'hkt'd. aaDb'thuk?"*

    *"Listen, sunshine lit: "the stare of the great hot eye in the sky whose fiery gaze penetrates the mouth of the cavern" I don't want to have to give anyone a smacking, so if you play B'tduz** with me, I'll play B'tduz with you. Okay?"***

    **A popular dwarfish game which consists of standing a few feet apart and throwing large rocks at one another's head.

    *** Lit. "All correctly beamed and propped?"

    February 11, 2010