apa nāman

 Apa nāman means “a bad name” in Sanskrit, formed from apa (“bad, away, off”) + nāman (“name”).

Apa nāman (अपनामन्) is a standard Sanskrit compound meaning

“a bad or offensive name” or “having a bad name”, as shown in the

dictionary entry where it is defined as “a bad name” and “having a 

bad or offensive name”

Wisdom Library

. It is analysed as 

apa + nāman, where apa- is a privative or negative prefix and 

nāman is the common Sanskrit word for “name.”

Meaning of nāman (the base word)

The base term nāman (नामन्) has a wide semantic range in Sanskrit. 

According to the lexical entry

Wiktionary

:

• “name, personal name, appellation”
• “a characteristic mark or sign, form, nature, kind”
• “merely the name (as opposed to reality)”
• “a noun (in grammar)”
• “substance, essence” in Mīmāṃsā philosophy

It is also the standard grammatical term for nouns, as noted in the

Vyākaraṇa section

Wisdom Library

.

How the compound works

The compound apa‑nāman is a tatpuruṣa compound (prefix + noun).

• apa- adds the sense of bad, wrong, off, away from proper.
• nāman contributes the meaning name, reputation.

Thus apa nāman literally means “bad name”, and by extension

“ill repute, disgrace, bad reputation.”

Grammatical notes

The dictionary entry shows that apanāman can function as:

• a neuter noun meaning “a bad name”

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• an adjective meaning “having a bad name”

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  1 Source

Summary

• nāman = “name; noun; designation; reputation”
• apa‑nāman = “bad name; ill repute; disgrace”