Roman, Roma: 38 definitions
Introduction:
Roman means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Christianity, the history of ancient India, Marathi, Hindi, biology. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
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In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Roma (रोम) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. II.28.49, II.47.26) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Roma) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.
The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.
Kavya (poetry)
Roma is the name of an ancient kingdom mentioned in the 12th century Lokapaññati (“description of the world”), a Pali text from Burma.—[...] The Lokapaññati’s rendition of the story begins as a tale of two kingdoms: that of Pāṭaliputta (Sanskrit: Pātaliputra ) and the distant land of “Roma”. Roma, according to the story, was filled with makers of automata—what the text calls literally “machines that were the vehicles of spirits,” bhūtavāhanayanta, or mechanical beings animated by a kind of life force. In Roma, these machines carried out many functions, like commerce (buying and selling), agriculture, and protection. The secrets of this technology were fiercely guarded, and the machine-makers (yantakāras) of Roma were expected to report periodically to the royal court. If there was any prolonged absence, an automaton was sent to hunt down and kill the errant artisan, preventing the knowledge from spreading to other realms.
Kavya (काव्य, kavya) refers to Sanskrit poetry, a popular ancient Indian tradition of literature. There have been many Sanskrit poets over the ages, hailing from ancient India and beyond. This topic includes mahakavya, or ‘epic poetry’ and natya, or ‘dramatic poetry’.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Toxicology (Study and Treatment of poison)
1) Roman (रोमन्) or “hair” refers to one of the thirteen sources of Jaṅgama (mobile) poison, as described in the Kāśyapa Saṃhitā: an ancient Sanskrit text from the Pāñcarātra tradition dealing with both Tantra and Viṣacikitsā, which represents the Ayurvedic study on Toxicology (Viṣavidyā or Sarpavidyā).—Kaśyapa states in the fourth Adhyāya that Śiva taught him that poisons are of five kinds viz. immobile, mobile, artificial, caused by planets and (arising out of) doubt. The sources of these five kinds of viṣa, Kaśyapasaṃhitā deals mainly with the sthāvara (immobile), jaṅgama (mobile) poison according to Kaśyapa are thirteen in number [viz., hair (roman)].
2) Roma (रोम) or Romamaṇḍalī refers to one of the sixteen varieties of Maṇḍalī snakes, according to the Kāśyapa Saṃhitā.—Kāśyapa sources his antidotes from a multitude plants, a few minerals, salts and animal products available in nature. All these plants fall under various groups called gaṇas, as pronounced by the Ayurvedic Nigaṇṭus.
Veterinary Medicine (The study and treatment of Animals)
1) Roman (रोमन्) refers to the “hair” (of an elephant), according to the 15th century Mātaṅgalīlā composed by Nīlakaṇṭha in 263 Sanskrit verses, dealing with elephantology in ancient India, focusing on the science of management and treatment of elephants.—[Cf. chapter 4, “on marks of longevity”]: “1. Those who have glossy tusks, nails, hair (roman), and eyes; long ears, trunk, tail, and spine; who have a full complement of the favorable marks cited in an earlier place; the surfaces of whose frontal bosses are symmetrical: these are long lived”.
2) Roma (रोम) is the name for lotus (from which the name Romapāda is derived).—[Cf. chapter 12, “On the qualities of elephant drivers, etc.”]: “29. ‘Roma’ is explained by ancient seers as a name for lotus; because his foot (pāda) was marked with that, he was called roma-pāda. 30. Because he protected (pāla-) the elephant herd, and because he was kāpya by gentile name (by clan), therefore that pāla-kāpya was given this name by the heavenly voice”.
Unclassified Ayurveda definitions
Roman (रोमन्) refers to the “short hair on the body”, and is mentioned in verse 2.30 of the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā (Sūtrasthāna) by Vāgbhaṭa.—Accordingly, “one shall follow a middle course in all (religious and profane) matters.—One’s hair [viz., roman], nails, and beard (shall be) short, one’s feet and secretory paths not dirty”.
Note: Roman, strictly speaking, denotes the short hair on the body (Tibetan: spu; a fine example is the following kha-spu, lit. “face-hair”, which stands for śmaśru, “beard”), whereas keśa signifies the long hair of the head (Tibetan: skra). This differentiation, though neglected in the original, has been re-established by the Tibetans.
Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.
In Buddhism
Theravada (major branch of Buddhism)
There were four kings of this name sixty thousand kappas ago, all previous births of Sataramsika Thera. Ap.i.104.
Theravāda is a major branch of Buddhism having the the Pali canon (tipitaka) as their canonical literature, which includes the vinaya-pitaka (monastic rules), the sutta-pitaka (Buddhist sermons) and the abhidhamma-pitaka (philosophy and psychology).
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
1) Roma (रोम) refers to “hair”, according to Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra (chapter 19).—Accordingly, “Furthermore, some say that generosity is the cause and condition (hetupratyaya) for obtaining the thirty-two marks. Why is that? [...] When one gives, one says: “May I be useful”, and the generous disposition (dānacitta) increases; this is why one obtains the marks consisting of having a high instep (utsaṅgacaraṇa) and hair standing up (ūrdhvāgra-roma). [...]”.
2) Roman (रोमन्, “hairs”) (Pali Loma) refers to one of the thirty-substances of the human body according to the Visuddhimagga, as mentioned in an appendix of the Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra chapter 32-34. The Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra mentions thirty-six substances [viz., roman]; the Sanskrit sources of both the Lesser and the Greater Vehicles, physical substances are 26 in number while the Pāli suttas list thirty-once substances.
Roma (रोम) refers to “hair”, according to the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā: the eighth chapter of the Mahāsaṃnipāta (a collection of Mahāyāna Buddhist Sūtras).—Accordingly as The Lord said: “O Śāriputra, in the buddha-field of the Tathāgata Ekaratnavyūha, there is a Bodhisattva, the great being Gaganagañja who is resplendent by the splendor of merit (puṇya-tejas), [...] who has proclaimed the dharma from all hair-pores (sarva-roma-kūpa-dharmākhyāna)) in accordance with individual suitabilities as adorned with the dharma, has attained all qualities of a buddha on the palm of his hand as adorned with manifestation, has illuminated all buddha-fields as adorned with splendor, [...]”.
Roma (रोम) refers to the “hairs (of one’s body)”, according to the Vajratuṇḍasamayakalparāja, an ancient Buddhist ritual manual on agriculture from the 5th-century (or earlier), containing various instructions for the Sangha to provide agriculture-related services to laypeople including rain-making, weather control and crop protection.—Accordingly, [as the Nāga-kings said to Bhagavān], “O Bhagavān, we are destroyed and burnt, our bodies are set on fire. The hairs of our bodies are bristling and standing erect (roma-harṣaṇa). [...] O Bhagavān, when we all stand visibly in front of the Bhagavān, thus frightened and trembling, with the hairs on our bodies (roma-kūpa) bristling, overcome with great dreadful fear, standing all with agitated minds, O Bhagavān, how will monks be in the last time, in the last age, after the Tathāgata has departed? [...]”.
Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.
India history and geography
Roma (ரொம) or Romarisi refers to one of the Siddhars (Siddhas) and Rishis mentioned by Rangarasa Desiga Swamigal in his Siddhargal Potri Thoguppu. Each name in the list starts with prefix ‘Om’ followed by the Siddhar’s names and ends with refrain ‘Thiruvadigal Potri’. For example for Roma-risi: ஓம் ரோமரிஷி திருவடிகள் போற்றி [ōm rōmariṣi tiruvaṭikaḷ pōṟṟi].—These Siddhas experienced union with the ultimate reality and witnessed a spiritual transformation of their intellectual, mental, vital and ultimately, physical bodies.
The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.
Biology (plants and animals)
Roma in India is the name of a plant defined with Cinnamomum tamala in various botanical sources. This page contains potential references in Ayurveda, modern medicine, and other folk traditions or local practices It has the synonym Laurus tamala Buch.-Ham. (among others).
Example references for further research on medicinal uses or toxicity (see latin names for full list):
· Botanica expeditior (1760)
· Handbuch der medicinisch-pharmaceutischen Botanik (1831)
· FBI (1886)
· Species Plantarum (1753)
· Transactions of the Linnean Society of London (1822)
If you are looking for specific details regarding Roma, for example chemical composition, side effects, diet and recipes, extract dosage, health benefits, pregnancy safety, have a look at these references.
This sections includes definitions from the five kingdoms of living things: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists and Monera. It will include both the official binomial nomenclature (scientific names usually in Latin) as well as regional spellings and variants.
Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
roma : (nt.) hair on the body.
Roma, (nt.) (Vedic roman; the usual P. form is loma (q. v.)) the hair of the body J. V, 430 (where in roma-rājiyā maṇḍita-udarā as explanation of loma-sundarī); Sdhp. 119 (°kūpa), (Page 577)
roma (ရောမ) [(pu,na) (ပု၊န)]—
[ru+,ravati gacchatīti romo．ka．627．rū．652．nīti,sutta．1234．ruha+ma．lū+ma．,ṭī．259．ro-saṃ．roma-prā．addhamāgadhī．]
[ရု+မန်၊ ရဝတိ ဂစ္ဆတီတိ ရောမော။ ကစ္စည်း။၆၂၇။ ရူ။၆၅၂။ နီတိ၊သုတ္တ။၁၂၃၄။ ရုဟ+မ။ လူ+မ။ ဓာန်၊ဋီ။၂၅၉။ ရောမန်-သံ။ ရောမ-ပြာ။ အဒ္ဓမာဂဓီ။]
[Pali to Burmese]
roma—
(Burmese text): (၁) အမွေး၊ မွေးညင်း။ ရောမသ-(အပ၊၁။၂၄၂)-လည်းကြည့်။ (၂) ရောမဇနပုဒ်။ ရောမအရပ်။ ရောမဇနပဒ-ကြည့်။ (၃) ကြောက်ခြင်းကို ဖြစ်စေတတ်သော။ (၄) ကြောက်အပ်သော။ (၅) ချဉ်းကပ်ခြင်းငှါ ခဲယဉ်းသော။
(Auto-Translation): (1) Birth, birth pangs. Also see Roman (Apg, 1.242). (2) Roman canon. Roman spot. See Roman canon. (3) Capable of causing fear. (4) Fearful. (5) Tensing due to approaching.
Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.
Marathi-English dictionary
rōma (रोम).—n (S) A hair of the body.
rōma (रोम).—n A hair of the body.
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit dictionary
Roma (रोम).—A hole, cavity.
Derivable forms: romaḥ (रोमः).
Roman (रोमन्).—n. [ru-manin Uṇādi-sūtra 4.15]
1) The hair on the body of men and animals; especially, short hair, bristles or down; रोमाणि च रहस्यानि सर्वाण्येव विवर्जयेत् (romāṇi ca rahasyāni sarvāṇyeva vivarjayet) Ms. 4.144;8.116; Bhāgavata 11.18.3.
2) The feathers of birds.
3) The scales of a fish.
Roma (रोम).—m. (otherwise only nt.), hair: n. pl. romāḥ Lalitavistara 310.1 (end of line of verse).
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Romā (रोमा).—name of a goddess: Mahāsamājasūtra Waldschmidt Kl. Sanskrit Texte 4, 185.15. Pali parallel has Rojā (supported by one Chin. version which points to reconstructed ro-ya; but another Chin. indicates so-ma).
Roma (रोम).—n.
(-maṃ) Water. m.
(-maḥ) A hole.
Roman (रोमन्).—n. (-ma) The hair of the body. E. ru to make, Unadi aff. manin, form irr.
Roma (रोम).—n. Water.
Roman (रोमन्).—i. e. ruh + man, n. The hair of the body, [Pañcatantra] iii. [distich] 186.
Roma (रोम).—(—°) = rāman.
Roman (रोमन्).—[neuter] hair (on the body of men or beasts), the feathers of a bird or the scales of a fish.
1) Roma (रोम):—1. roma m. (of uncertain derivation, but cf. 1. ropa) a hole, cavity, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
2) n. water, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
3) 2. roma m. the city Rome, [Catalogue(s)] (cf. bṛhad-roma and next)
4) [plural] Name of a people, [Viṣṇu-purāṇa]
5) a 3. 4. roma. See under 1. roman.
6) [from roman] 3. roma in [compound] for roman.
7) [from roman] 4. roma (ifc.) = roman (cf. a-dīrgha-, sa-r).
1) Roman (रोमन्):—1. roman n. ([probably] connected with √1. ruh; cf. loman) the hair on the body of men and animals, ([especially]) short hair, bristles, wool, down, nap etc. (less properly applicable to the long hair on the head and beard of men, and to that of the mane and tail of animals), [Ṛg-veda] etc. etc.
2) the feathers of a bird, [Rāmāyaṇa] (cf. mayūra-r)
3) the scales of a fish (See pṛthu-r).
4) 2. roman m. [plural] Name of a people, [Mahābhārata; Viṣṇu-purāṇa]
Roma (रोम):—(maṃ) 1. n. Water. m. A hole.
Roman (रोमन्):—(ma) 5. n. The hair of the body.
Roma (रोम):—1. = roman am Ende eines adj. comp.: ajātaroma [Mahābhārata 3, 10053.] aroma [1, 8010] (f. a). [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 70, 3.] saroma [21.] — Vgl. dīrgha .
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Roma (रोम):—2.
1) m. Loch, Höhle [ŚABDĀRTHAK.] bei [WILSON]; vgl. 1. ropa . —
2) n. Wasser [Śabdacandrikā im Śabdakalpadruma]
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Roma (रोम):—3. Rom [Oxforder Handschriften 338,b,1 v. u.] — Vgl. bṛhadroma und 2. romaka .
Roman (रोमन्):—1. n [Uṇādisūtra 4, 150.] = loman [Kāśikīvṛtti] zu [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 8, 2, 18.] Haar am Körper der Menschen und Thiere (in der Regel mit Ausschluss der langen Kopfund Barthaare, der Mähne und des Schweifes) [Amarakoṣa 2, 6, 2, 50, 3, 12.] [Hemacandra’s Abhidhānacintāmaṇi 619. 630.] [Halāyudha 2, 369. 394.] romāṇya.ayā [Ṛgveda 1, 135, 6. 9, 62, 8. 75, 4. 97, 11.] [Śāṅkhāyana’s Śrautasūtrāṇi 4, 14, 4. 18, 24, 19.] [GṚHY. 1, 24.] [Aitareyabrāhmaṇa 2, 9.] [Chāndogyopaniṣad 8, 13, 1.] romāṇi rahasyāni [Manu’s Gesetzbuch 4, 144. 221.] paśuromāṇi [5, 38.] (ṛṣeḥ) nāgnirdadāha romāpi [8, 116.] tato romāṇi me hṛṣan [Mahābhārata 2, 1925.] mayūrasamaromabhiḥ . hayaiḥ [3, 12065.] dīrgharomadhara [Rāmāyaṇa Gorresio 2, 28, 24. 3, 49, 3. 4. 74, 15.] [Suśruta 1, 5, 1. 17, 9. 2, 13, 10. fgg.] [Raghuvaṃśa 1, 83.] [Spr. 1035.] [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 57, 7. 61, 11. 67, 6. 68, 4. 69, 13. 70, 2.] [Bhāgavatapurāṇa 2, 6, 4. 3, 13, 34. 22, 29. 5, 26, 14. 8, 7, 28.] keśavālaromāṇi (vājinaḥ) Cit. beim. Schol. zu [Śākuntala 6, 5.] romotpāṭana [Weber’s Verzeichniss No. 958.] hṛṣṭaroman adj. [Trikāṇḍaśeṣa 3, 1, 21.] [Rāmāyaṇa] [Gorresio 1, 22, 1. 52, 1.] [Bhāgavatapurāṇa 4, 24, 22] (von Pflanzen). [Vetālapañcaviṃśati] in [Lassen’s Anthologie (III) 3, 22.] hṛṣṭaromṇī [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 92, 3.] prahṛṣṭaroman adj. [Rāmāyaṇa 3, 65, 19.] [Bhāgavatapurāṇa 3, 13, 5.] saṃhṛṣṭaromāṅga [Rāmāyaṇa 3, 55, 5.] suvarṇaromayūtha [Pañcatantra 35, 1.] Gefieder der Vögel [Rāmāyaṇa 4, 59, 19.] romā pṛthi.yāḥ [Ṛgveda 1, 65, 8.] — Vgl. ūrdhva, dīrgha, netra, pṛthu (breithaarig d. i. schuppig von Fischen), bahu, mayūra, mahā, svarṇa, hrasva .
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Roman (रोमन्):—2. m. pl. Nomen proprium eines Volkes [Mahābhārata 6, 363] [?(Viṣṇupurāṇa 192).] ed. Bomb. liest: vanāyavo daśāpārśvaromāṇaḥ — Vgl. 2. romaka
1) a).
Roma (रोम):—1. am Ende eines adj. Comp. (f. ā) = roman Haar [Hemādri’s Caturvargacintāmaṇi 1,423,17.]
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Roma (रोम):—2. —
1) m. Loch , Höhle. —
2) n. Wasser.
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Roma (रोम):—3. m. —
1) Rom. —
2) Pl. Nomen proprium eines Volkes [Wilson's Uebersetzung des Viṣṇupurāṇa 2,133.]
Roman (रोमन्):—1. n. Haar am Körper der Menschen und Thiere (in der Regel mit Ausschluss der langer Kopf und Barthaare , der Mähne und des Schweifes) , Gefieder der Vögel , Fischschuppe. Am Ende eines adj. Comp. f. romṇī.
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Roman (रोमन्):—2. m. Pl. Nomen proprium eines Volkes.
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Hindi dictionary
Roma (रोम) [Also spelled rom]:—(nm) (small and soft) hair (on the body); ~[kūpa] the pores on the surface of the skin; ~[guccha] cirri; ~[pūrṇa] hairy, lanate; ~[rājī] see [romālī; ~harṣaka] thrilling; awful, dreadful, terrible; ~[harṣaṇa] horripilation; -[roma meṃ] in the whole being, throughout the body; •[basanā] to pervade through the whole being; -[roma se] with heart and soul, with one’s whole being.
...
Kannada-English dictionary
Rōma (ರೋಮ):—
1) [noun] the hair on the body of human beings and animals.
2) [noun] the feathers of a bird.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
1) Roma (रोम):—n. capital of Italy;
2) Roma (रोम):—n. 1. the hair of the body; 2. feather; fur; fiber; 3. Rome; capital of Italy;
Nepali is the primary language of the Nepalese people counting almost 20 million native speakers. The country of Nepal is situated in the Himalaya mountain range to the north of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with (+13): Romabhumi, Romadvara, Romagarta, Romaguccha, Romaharsha, Romaharshana, Romahrit, Romakarnaka, Romakeshara, Romakupa, Romalata, Romali, Roman candle, Roman candle tree, Roman chamomile, Roman Empire, Roman laurel, Roman pellitory, Roman pyrethrum, Roman religion.
Full-text (+605): Romaharsha, Romakupa, Romanca, Romaharshana, Romakarnaka, Romavali, Romapulaka, Romancita, Romarandhra, Romali, Khadgaroman, Romaraji, Romodgama, Suciroman, Hrishtaroman, Dirgharoman, Romavikara, Romalata, Romakanda, Prithuroman.
Relevant text
Search found 219 books and stories containing Roman, Rōma, Romā; (plurals include: Romans, Rōmas, Romās). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Bhagavad-gita (with Vaishnava commentaries) (by Narayana Gosvami)
Verse 11.14 < [Chapter 11 - Viśvarūpa-darśana-yoga (beholding the Lord’s Universal Form)]
Verse 18.41 < [Chapter 18 - Mokṣa-yoga (the Yoga of Liberation)]
Porphyry on Asclepius’s and the Gods’ Departure from Rome < [Volume 16, Issue 6 (2025)]
Understanding the Letter to the Romans in the Sect-Cult Development of Early... < [Volume 11, Issue 5 (2020)]
A Stoic Reading of Internal Obedience in Romans 1:18–2:29 < [Volume 14, Issue 5 (2023)]
Archives of Social Sciences of Religions
Clémence Revest, Romam veni. Humanisme et papauté à la fin du Grand Schisme < [Volume 196 (2021)]
Crazy Ji: Exploring Chinese Religion and Popular Literature < [Volume 110 (2000)]
Christ and His Apostles in the Suburbs of Paris < [Volume 165 (2014)]
Assessing Potential Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Public Health and Vulnerable... < [Volume 8, Issue 4, April (2016)]
Recycling and Reuse of Building Materials in a Historical... < [Volume 15, Issue 3 (2023)]
The Evolution of Agricultural Drainage from the Earliest Times to the Present < [Volume 12, Issue 1 (2020)]
List of Mahabharata people and places (by Laxman Burdak)
Tirumantiram by Tirumular (English translation)
Verse 93: God Within Vedic Hymns < [Payiram (preface) (verses 1 to 112)]