Abhinav

What does Abhinav mean?

Abhinav means ‘new’ or ‘fresh’, from Sanskrit abhinava. Wiktionary records the word in both Sanskrit and Hindi, including its use as a Hindi given name. Its meanings include ‘novel’, ‘young’ and ‘youthful’, so the name belongs to a vocabulary of newness as well as youth. ‘Innovative’ is a reasonable modern interpretation of ‘novel’, though it is not the dictionary's exact wording. The word has a life in ordinary language beyond its use as a name.

Source: Wiktionary, अभिनव. How we use sources.

Spelling and pronunciation

अभिनव is read a-bhi-nav in Hindi, in three syllables with short vowels. Abhinava retains the additional final vowel of Sanskrit. The bh is a single b sound released with a puff of breath. It should remain part of the middle syllable rather than becoming a separate b and h.

Also spelled Abhinava.

Abhinav in tradition and story

Abhinavagupta, the Kashmiri philosopher and writer on art of the tenth and eleventh centuries, bore a longer name containing Abhinava. His Tantrāloka explored Kashmir Shaiva thought, while his commentary on the Nāṭyaśāstra became influential in discussions of art and aesthetic experience.