Meanings
- A river in India and Bangladesh, sacred within Hinduism.
[…] the Yellow Riuer […] is the other famous Riuer of that Kingdome, in greatneſſe and note, which ariſesth without the Kingdome to the Weſt, out of the Hill Cunlun, conjectured to bee the ſame whence Ganges ariſeth, or one neere to it.
1625, [Samuel] Purchas, “A Generall Collection and Historical Representation of the Iesuites Entrance into Iapon and China, vntill Their Admission in the Royall Citie of Nanquin”, in Purchas His Pilgrimes. […], 3rd part, London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, § V, page 3401 more example
...their master... was no ad for anybody but the most arcane Black Power, he was an old prince of a witch doctor—insult him at your peril—but the other ten musicians with their trumpets and snares and assorted brass would prove no pull for Nixon on TV with any Black votes watching, for they were old and meek, naught but elderly Black Southern musicians, a veritable Ganges of Uncle Toms. They had disappeared with Tom Swift and Little Lord Fauntleroy.
1968, Norman Mailer, “Nixon in Miami”, in Harper's, §6Synonyms: Ganga
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA river in India and Bangladesh, sacred within Hinduism.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gʷem-“to come”
- Sanskritगङ्गा
- Ancient GreekΓάγγης
- LatinGangēs
- EnglishGanges
Borrowed from Latin Gangēs, from Ancient Greek Γάγγης (Gángēs), from Sanskrit गङ्गा (gáṅgā, literally “swift-goer”), from the verbal root गम् (gam, “to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (“to come”) (whence Latin veniō, Ancient Greek βαίνω (baínō), and English come). Doublet of Ganga.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Ancient Greek Γάγγης
- Γάγγης (Gángēs)the river
Arabic الْغَانْج, الْكَنْك
- الْغَانْج (al-ḡānj)the river
- الْكَنْك (al-kank)the river
Bengali গঙ্গা
- গঙ্গা (goṅga)the river
Bulgarian Ганг
- Гангthe river
Catalan Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Chinese Cantonese 恆河 /恒河
- 恆河 /恒河the river
Chinese Mandarin 恆河 /恒河, 恆伽 /恒伽
- 恆河 /恒河 (Héng Hé)the river
- 恆伽 /恒伽 (Hénggā)the river
Czech Ganga
- Gangathe river
Danish Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Esperanto Gango
- Gangothe river
Estonian Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Finnish Ganges
- Gangesthe river
French Gange
- Gangethe river
German Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Greek Γάγγης
- Γάγγης (Gángis)the river
Hebrew גנגס
- גנגס (ganges)the river
Hindi गंगा
- गंगा (gaṅgā)the river
Hungarian Gangesz
- Gangeszthe river
Icelandic Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Indonesian Gangga
- Ganggathe river
Irish Ganga, An Ghainséis
- Gangathe river
- An Ghainséisthe river
Italian Gange
- Gangethe river
Japanese ガンジス川, ガンジス
- ガンジス川 (Ganjisu-gawa)the river
- ガンジス (Ganjisu)the river
Korean 갠지스, 갠지스강
- 갠지스 (Gaenjiseu)the river
- 갠지스강 (Gaenjiseugang)the river
Latin Gangēs
- Gangēsthe river
Latvian Ganga
- Gangathe river
Lithuanian Ganga
- Gangathe river
Malay Gangga
- Ganggathe river
Norwegian Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Persian گنگ
- گنگ (gang)the river
Polish Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Portuguese Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Punjabi ਗੰਗਾ
- ਗੰਗਾ (gaṅgā)the river
Romanian Gange
- Gangethe river
Russian Ганг
- Гангthe river
Slovak Ganga
- Gangathe river
Spanish Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Swedish Ganges
- Gangesthe river
Tamil கங்கை
- கங்கை (kaṅkai)the river
Thai แม่น้ำคงคา, คงคา
- แม่น้ำคงคา (mɛ̂ɛ-náam kong-kaa)the river
- คงคา (kong-kaa)the river
Turkish Ganj
- Ganjthe river
Ukrainian Ганг
- Ганг (Hanh)the river
Urdu گنگا
- گنگا (gãṅgā)the river
Vietnamese Hằng, sông Hằng
- Hằngthe river
- sông Hằngthe river
Yiddish גאַנגעס
- גאַנגעס (ganges)the river
Cite this entry
Ganges. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ganges
“Ganges.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ganges. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ganges,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ganges.
Source: Ganges on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.