Diwali

Etymology

It is borrowed from Hindi दिवाली (dīvālī),^[2][3][4][5] from Sanskrit दीपावलि (dīpāvali, “row of lights”),^[2][4][5][6] formed from दीप (dīpa, “light, lamp”) and आवलि (āvali, “row, line”).^[2][6][3] The American Heritage Dictionary takes the Hindi word through a Middle Indic form, and relates the word for "lamp" to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *dyeu-; it thinks the word for "row" is probably of non-Indo-European origin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Hindu festival with illuminations: 1698, in John Fryer's New Account of East-India and Persia.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The OED defines it as a festival of illuminations on the day of the new moon in the month Asvina or Kārttika;^[6] the Shorter Oxford as one held over three nights between October and November, celebrating the new season at the end of the monsoon.^[7] Collins describes it as honouring Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, at the New Year of the Vikrama calendar, with feasting, gifts and lamps.^[8] The American Heritage Dictionary describes a five-day festival kept by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.^[3] It is also called the Festival of Lights,^[3] and is spelled Divali or Dewali as well.^{[8][7][9][10]}

Timeline

• 1698 – a Hindu festival of lights.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A major Hindu festival of lights, also kept by Sikhs and Jains, held in October or November and marked by lighting lamps, feasting and giving gifts.^[3][8][9]

Related words

• Deepavali

Usage notes

According to Wiktionary, Diwali and Divali are the usual forms in North India, while Deepavali is more common in South India, and diaspora communities follow the region most of their members came from.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
3. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House