Nāma

Nāma (T. ming མིང་) has the following meanings:

1. name; designation; term
2. name, full name, given name, first name, surname, family name, word, term.
3. verbal expression
4. mind, mental processes, the four mental aggregates.

In the context of "name and form" (nāma-rupa), nāma refers to four mental aggregates (skandha).

Within "name and form"

The 84000 Glossary states:

The term nāma ordinarily means “name,” but in the context of “name-and-form” it refers more specifically to everything that makes up sentience, i.e., the mind and mental factors. In that context, the term is sometimes etymologized from the root nam in the sense of “bending,” either toward an object (perceiving an object), or toward a new birth.

The Abhidharma-kosa states:

Nāma bends towards objects due to the force of the sense-objects--hence it is “nāma”.

Sources

• Salvini, Mattia (2015), "Language and Existence in Madhyamaka and Yogācāra", in Garfield, Jay L.; Westerhoff, Jan, Madhyamaka and Yogacara: Allies or Rivals?, Oxford University Press 
• ming, Christian-Steinert Dictionary

External links

• ming, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki