Ahura Mazda

==Nomenclature==
The most likely etymology is from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''*h₂ḿ̥suros'', from ''*h₂ems-'' ("to engender, beget"), and therefore it is cognate with [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] ''*ansuz''. Finnish Indologist [[Asko Parpola]] locates a borrowing from [[Proto-Indo-Aryan language|Proto-Indo-Aryan]] ''*asera-'' to the [[Uralic languages]], with the meaning 'lord, prince'.<ref name="asko">{{Cite book |first=Asko |last=Parpola |date=2015 |title=The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=114 |isbn=978-0190226923}}</ref>

'Mazda', or rather the Avestan stem-form ''Mazdā-'', [[Nominative case|nominative]] ''Mazdå'', reflects [[Proto-Iranian language|Proto-Iranian]] ''*mazdáH'' (a [[feminine gender|feminine]] noun). It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit and, like its [[Vedic Sanskrit|Vedic]] cognate ''medhā́'', means "[[intelligence]]" or "[[wisdom]]". Both the Avestan and the Sanskrit words reflect [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]] [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/mazdʰáH|''*mazdʰáH'']], from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''{{PIE|*mn̥sdʰh₁éh₂}}'', literally meaning "placing ({{PIE|*dʰeh₁}}) one's mind ({{PIE|*mn̥-s}})", hence "wise".{{sfn|Boyce|1983|p=685}}

The name was rendered as ''Ahuramazda'' ([[Old Persian]]) during the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid era]], ''Hormazd'' during the [[Parthian Empire|Parthian era]] and ''Ohrmazd'' during the [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanian era]].{{sfn|Boyce|1983|p=685}}

The name may be attested on [[cuneiform]] tablets of [[Assyria]]n [[Ashurbanipal|Assurbanipal]], in the form ''Assara Mazaš'', but that interpretation is very controversial.{{sfn|Boyce|1975|p=14}}