apsara

• upsara

A 12th century statue of an apsara.

Borrowed from Hindi अप्सरा (apsarā), descended from Sanskrit अप्सरस् (apsaras).

apsara (plural apsaras)

1. (Indian mythology, Hinduism, Buddhism) A female spirit of the clouds and waters.
   • 1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 40:

     But the boy's relatives don't sit on their behinds and wait for a pari or an apsara to drop out of the heavens.

   • 2004, Khushwant Singh, Burial at Sea, Penguin, published 2014, page 102:

     But here was an apsara rising out of the waters of a holy Ganga, raising her arms in salutation to the sun rising above the range of hills and offering her behind to him to marvel at and worship.

   • 2006, Vikram Chandra, Sacred Games, volume 1, Penguin, published 2007, page 17:

     Don't burn us with your fierce austerities, O master. I'll have to send apsaras to distract you.

• sarapa

From Sanskrit अप्सरस् (apsaras). Doublet of apsari.

• IPA^(key): /ap.sa.ra/
• Hyphenation: ap‧sa‧ra

apsara

1. (archaeology) heavenly deity

• “apsara” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• apsará

apsara f (plural apsaras)

1. (Indian mythology) apsara (a female spirit of the clouds and waters)