Nandi

plural Nandis

1. Hindu mythologyA bull used as a mount by the god Shiva, or a representation of this bull.First known use 19th c.

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

   2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 3

plural Nandis

1. 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.First known use 20th c.

   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.

   1911, James George Frazer, chapter V, in Taboo and the Perils of the Soul (The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion; II), third edition, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, page 310

1. The Nilotic language spoken by this group.

1. Former spelling of Nadi, Fiji.