Snow in Malayalam
Snow is മഞ്ഞ് (manju) in everyday Malayalam, though the word earns its keep in Kerala for mist, fog and dew, since snow itself is something Malayalis see on holiday rather than at home. Film songs about the hills use it constantly. Two syllables, nasal in the middle.
Snow. Snow, and in Kerala usage also mist, fog or dew.
മലമുകളിൽ മഞ്ഞ് വീണു.
malamukalil manju veenu.
Snow fell on the mountain top.
All Malayalam words for “snow”
- മഞ്ഞ് (manju) — Snow. Snow, and in Kerala usage also mist, fog or dew.
- ഹിമം (himam) — Snow, cold, sandalwood, camphor, night, lotus, tin.
- തുഷാരം (thushaaram) — Dew, frost, mist, snow, dew-drop.
- ഹേമം (hemam) — Gold, water, snow, winter; strain, violence, force, compulsion.
ഹിമം (himam) is the Sanskrit word for snow and cold, the one inside the name of the Himalaya and in formal writing, while തുഷാരം (thushaaram) is dew and frost and ഹേമം (hemam) means gold first of all.
Common questions
How do you say snow in Malayalam?
മഞ്ഞ് (manju) in ordinary speech and ഹിമം (himam) in formal or literary Malayalam.
Why does the common word also mean mist?
Because Kerala has no snow, the word attached itself to the cold white things people do see there, namely mist, fog and heavy dew.