Girl · Tamil
Kani
கனிSay it KUH-ni
- Meaning
- Ripe fruit; also ripeness and sweetness Tamil Lexicon, p. 838
- Say it
- KUH-ni
- Written
- கனி
Kani
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Kani meaning
Kani (கனி) is a Tamil girl's name.
Ripe fruit; also ripeness and sweetness
Kani (கனி) is the Tamil word kaṉi, from the verb kaṉi-, to ripen. The Tamil Lexicon gives ripeness, ripe or mellow fruit, sweetness and essence among its senses, and notes the Malayalam cognate kani. For 'fruit' it quotes verse 100 of the Tirukkuṟaḷ, which compares speaking harsh words when kind ones are at hand to picking unripe fruit when ripe fruit is there; kaṉi is the ripe fruit of that image. A separate word kaṉi, borrowed from Sanskrit khani, means a mine. As a name Kani is short, gentle and unmistakably Tamil, and it also begins longer Tamil names such as Kanimozhi.
Source: Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (1924–36), p. 838 · entry kaṉi³ (கனி) · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Tamil Lexicon, kaṉi, p. 838