Nandi

name, noun

name, noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A bull used as a mount by the god Shiva, or a representation of this bull.

    "The Shiva temple […] had the requisite ten or twelve steps, a platform, and a Nandi."

  2. 2
    A member of subgroup of the Kalenjin ethnic group of East Africa, traditionally living in the highland areas of the Nandi Hills in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya.

    "A Nandi who is starting on a journey will tie a knot in grass by the wayside, as he believes that by so doing he will prevent the people whom he is going to visit from taking their meal till he arrives, or at all events he will ensure that they leave enough food over for him."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The Nilotic language spoken by this group.
  2. 2
    Former spelling of Nadi, Fiji.

Example

More examples

"The Shiva temple […] had the requisite ten or twelve steps, a platform, and a Nandi."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Sanskrit नन्दि (nandi).

Etymology 2

From Kalenjin.

Related phrases

ethnic group

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.