Pranayama (प्राणायाम) Meaning in Sanskrit

Prāṇāyāma (प्राणायाम), usually written pranayama in English, means “breath regulation” in yoga. In Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras, it is the fourth of the eight limbs of yoga, between āsana (posture) and pratyāhāra (withdrawal of the senses). Yoga Sūtra 2.29, Himalayan Academy

How the word is formed

Prāṇa (प्राण) can mean “breath” or “the breath of life.” Āyāma (आयाम) can mean “extension” or “stretching.” When the two words join, the final a of prāṇa and the initial ā of āyāma merge into one long ā. This vowel change is an example of Sanskrit sandhi.

prāṇa + āyāma → prāṇāyāma

The dictionary form is प्राणायाम (prāṇāyāma). In the verse below, it appears as प्राणायामः (prāṇāyāmaḥ), the masculine nominative singular. The two dots at the end, ः, are called visarga and are written ḥ in transliteration. Monier-Williams Sanskrit–English Dictionary

How to pronounce prāṇāyāma

Say it in four syllables, prā-ṇā-yā-ma. Hold the first three vowels longer than the final a. For ṇ, curl the tip of your tongue slightly back as you make the n sound.

What Patañjali says about the breath

तस्मिन् सति श्वासप्रश्वासयोर्गतिविच्छेदः प्राणायामः ॥२.४९॥

tasmin sati śvāsapraśvāsayor gativicchedaḥ prāṇāyāmaḥ

With the posture established, prāṇāyāma is the interruption of the movement of inhalation and exhalation.

GoSanskrit translation of Yoga Sūtra 2.49.

The opening tasmin sati means “with that in place.” Here, “that” refers to posture, the subject of the preceding verses. In gati-viccheda, gati means movement or flow and viccheda means interruption. In 2.50, Patañjali describes external, internal, and suspended modes and names three ways of observing them by place (deśa), duration (kāla), and count (saṃkhyā). Yoga Sūtras 2.46–2.50, Himalayan Academy

Three breath terms in haṭha yoga

Svātmārāma’s Haṭhapradīpikā describes prāṇāyāma using three terms you may encounter in yoga classes. Haṭhapradīpikā 2.72, Oxford digital critical edition

The verse uses reca for exhalation, which the accompanying Jyotsnā commentary also calls recaka. The same verse names two kinds of kumbhaka. In sahita (“accompanied”), retention is accompanied by inhalation and exhalation. In kevala (“isolated”), retention is independent of them. Haṭhapradīpikā 2.72 and commentary, Oxford digital critical edition