Ap (water)

Ap (áp-) is the Vedic Sanskrit term for "water", which in Classical Sanskrit only occurs in the plural, āpas (sometimes re-analysed as a thematic singular, āpa-), whence Hindi āp. The term is from PIE h_xap "water".^{[note 1]} The Indo-Iranian word also survives as the Persian word for water, āb, e.g. in Punjab (from panj-āb "five waters"). In archaic ablauting contractions, the laryngeal of the PIE root remains visible in Vedic Sanskrit, e.g. pratīpa- "against the current", from *proti-h_xp-o-. In Tamil, Ap means water, and has references in poetry.

In the Rigveda, several hymns are dedicated to "the waters" (āpas): 7.49, 10.9, 10.30, 10.47. In the oldest of these, 7.49, the waters are connected with the drought of Indra. Agni, the god of fire, has a close association with water and is often referred to as Apām Napāt "offspring of the waters". The female deity Apah is the presiding deity of Purva Ashadha (The former invincible one) asterism in Vedic astrology

In Hindu philosophy, the term refers to water as an element, one of the Panchamahabhuta, or "five great elements". In Hinduism, it is also the name of the deva Varuna a personification of water, one of the Vasus in most later Puranic lists.

Notes

1. The word has many cognates in archaic European toponyms, e.g., Mess-apia, and perhaps also Avon, from Old Brythonic abona or Welsh afon (pronounced [ˈavɔn]), both meaning 'river'.

See also

• Abzu, the Sumerian primeval waters
• āpō, the Avestan concept of "the waters"
• Doab, spit of land lying between two confluent rivers
• Old European hydronymy
• Rigvedic rivers
• Sea and river deity
• Punjab