f. a mother, [L.]
measure, [L.]
authority (-tva n.), [Nyāyam.]
light, [L.]
knowledge, [L.]
binding, fettering, [L.]
death, [L.]
a woman's waist, [L.]
mā́ ind. (causing a following ch to be changed to cch, [Pāṇ. vi, 1, 74]) not, that not, lest, would that not, [RV.] &c. &c.
a particle of prohibition or negation = Gk. μή, most commonly joined with the Subjunctive i.e. the augmentless form of a past tense (esp. of the aor., e.g. mā́ no vadhīr indra, do not slay us, O Indra, [RV.]; mā bhaiṣīḥ or mā bhaiḥ, do not be afraid, [MBh.]; tapovana-vāsinām uparodho mā bhūt, let there not be any disturbance of the inhabitants of the sacred grove, [Śak.]; often also with sma, e.g. mā sma gamaḥ, do not go, [Bhag.] cf. [Pāṇ. iii, 3, 175]; [176]; in the sense of ‘that not, lest’ also yathā mā, e.g. yathā mā vo mṛtyuḥ pari-vyatkā iti, that death may not disturb you, [PraśnaUp.]; or mā yathā, e.g. mā bhūt kālātyayo yathā, lest there be any loss of time, [R.]; mā na with aor. Subj. = Ind. without a negative, e.g. mā dviṣo na vadhīr mama, do slay my enemies, [Bhaṭṭ.] cf. [Vām. v, 1, 9]; rarely with the augmentless impf. with or without sma, e.g. mainam abhibhāṣathāḥ, do not speak to him, [R.]; mā sma karot, let him not do it, [Pāṇ. vi, 4, 74], Sch.; exceptionally also with the Ind. of the aor., e.g., mā kālas tvām aty-agāt, may not the season pass by thee, [MBh.]; cf. [Pāṇ. vi, 4, 75], Sch.)
or with the Impv. (in [RV.] only [viii, 103, 6], mā no hṛṇītām [[SV.] hṛṇītās] agníḥ, may Agni not be angry with us; but very often in later language, e.g. mā kranda do not cry, [MBh.]; gaccha vā mā vā, you can go or not go, [ib.]; ripur ayam mā jāyatām, may not this foe arise, [Śāntiś.]; also with sma, e.g. mā sma kiṃ cid vaco vada do not speak a word, [MBh.])
or with the Pot. (e.g. mā yamam paśyeyam, may I not see Yama; esp. mābhujema in [RV.])
or with the Prec. (only once in mā bhūyāt, may it not be, [R. [B.] ii, 75, 45])
or sometimes with the fut. (= that not, lest, e.g. mā tvāṃ śapsye, lest I curse thee, [MBh.] cf. [Vop. xxv, 27])
or with a participle (e.g. mā jīvanyo duḥkhadagdho jīvati, he ought not to live who lives consumed by pain, [Pañcat.]; gataḥ sa mā, he cannot have gone, [Kathās.]; maīvamprārthyam, it must not be so requested, [BhP.])
sometimes for the simple negative na (e.g. katham mā bhūt, how may it not be, [Kathās.]; mā gantum arhasi, thou oughtest not to go, [R.]; mā bhūd āgataḥ, can he not i.e. surely he must have arrived, [Amar.])
occasionally without a verb (e. g. mā śabdaḥ or śabdam, do not make a noise, [Hariv.]; mā nāma rakṣiṇaḥ, may it not be the watchmen, [Mṛcch.]; mā bhavantam analaḥ pavano vā, may not fire or wind harm thee, [Vām. v, 1, 14]; esp. = not so, e.g. mā prātṛda, not so, O Pr°, [ŚBr.]; in this meaning also mā mā, mā maivam, mā tāvat)
in the Veda often with u (mó) = and not, nor (e.g. mā́ maghónaḥ pári khyatam mó asmā́kam ṛ́ṣṇām, do not forget the rich lords nor us the poets, [RV. v, 65, 6]; and then usually followed by ṣú = sú, e.g. mo ṣú ṇaḥ nírṛtir vadhīt, let not N° on any account destroy us, [i, 38, 6])
in [ŚBr.] sma mā — mó sma = neither — nor (in a prohibitive sense).
cl. 3. P. mímāti (accord. to [Dhātup. xxv, 6] Ā. mimīte, [SV.] mimeti; Pot. mimīyat, [Kāṭh.]; pf., mimāya; aor. ámīmet Subj. mīmayat; inf. mā́tavaí), to sound, bellow, roar, bleat (esp. said of cows, calves, goats &c.), [RV.]; [AV.]; [Br.] : Intens., only pr. p. mémyat, bleating (as a goat), [RV. i, 162, 2.]
cl. 2. P. ([Dhātup. xxiv, 54]) māti; cl. 3. Ā. ([xxv, 6]) mímīte; cl. 4. Ā. ([xxvi, 33]) māyate (Ved. and ep. also mimāti Pot. mimīyāt Impv., mimīhi; Pot. mimet, [Br.]; pf. mamaú, mame, mamiré, [RV.]; aor. ámāsi Subj. mā́sātai, [AV.]; amāsīt Gr.; Prec. māsīṣṭa, meyāt, [ib.]; fut. mātā; māsyati, māsyate, [ib.]; inf. -mé, -maí, [RV.]; mātum, [Br.]; ind.p. mitvā́, -mā́ya, [RV.] &c. &c.), to measure, mete out, mark off, [RV.] &c. &c.; to measure across = traverse, [RV.]; to measure (by any standard), compare with (instr.), [Kum.]; (māti) to correspond in measure (either with gen., ‘to be large or long enough for’, [BhP.]; or with loc., ‘to find room or be contained in’, [Inscr.]; [Kāv.]; or with na and instr., ‘to be beside one's self with’, [Vcar.]; [Kathās.]); to measure out, apportion, grant, [RV.]; to help any one (acc.) to anything (dat.), [ib.], [i, 120, 9]; to prepare, arrange, fashion, form, build, make, [RV.]; to show, display, exhibit (amimīta, ‘he displayed or developed himself’, [iii, 29, 11]), [ib.]; (in phil.) to infer, conclude; to pray (yācñā-karmaṇi), [Naigh. iii, 19] : Pass. mīyáte (aor. amāyi); to be measured &c., [RV.]; &c. Caus., māpayati, °te (aor. amīmapat, [Pāṇ. vii, 4, 93], Vārtt. 2 [Pat.]), to cause to be measured or built, measure, build, erect, [Up.]; [GṛS.]; [MBh.] &c.: Desid. mitsati, °te, [Pāṇ. vii, 4, 54]; [58] (cf. nir-√ mā) : Intens. memīyate, [Pāṇ. vi, 4, 66.]
[cf. Zd. mā; Gk. μέτρον, μετρέω; Lat. mētior, mensus, mensura; Slav. měra; Lith. mėrà.]
f. See under ma, p. 771, col. 2.