shiva

plural shivas · alternative shibah · alternative shiv'ah · alternative shivah · alternative shive

1. JudaismcountableuncountableA weeklong period of formal mourning for a close relative.

   “Mo Kellman lost his wife ten years ago.” “Does that mean the shiva is over?”

   2014, Suri Rosen, Playing with Matches

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   Did you know that some parents sit shiva […] for 30 days if their child is discovered to be gay?

   1974 February 2, “Jewish Gay Group”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 32, page 2

   Seymour: Audrey, quick! We've got to do an emergency [flower] arrangement. […] Mr. Mushnik: The Shivas are our most important funereal account. A big, enormous family, they're dropping off like flies!

   1986, Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film)

alternative Śiva · alternative Shiv · alternative Shivan · alternative Siva

1. HinduismThe god of destruction and transformation, and together with Brahma and Vishnu, one of the principal deities in Hinduism. Within Shaivism he is viewed as the Supreme deity, whereas in other branches of Hinduism such as the Smarta tradition he is worshipped as one of the six manifestations of the Divine.

   The later Bhaumas who were originally Buddhists became worshippers of Siva as is known from their inscriptions.

   1964, Nabin Kumar Sahu, Utkal University History Of Orissa, volume 1, The Utkal University, page 7

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   Again Shiva was the subject — Shiva with his dance of creation and destruction, the most philosophically profound of the many dances that pervade Indian thought.

   2015 August 30, Alastair Macaulay, “Review: At Indian Dance Festival, Subtleties in the Sway of a Torso”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2022

2. A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.