Nirukta is one of the six Vedanga disciplines of Hinduism, treating etymology. Nirukta sutras consist of glossaries of difficult or rare Vedic words.

One important work on Nirukta relates to Yaska, an ancient Sanskrit scholar and grammarian, believed to have flourished as early as in 800-700 BCE, according to one school and as late as 300 BCE according to other.

Yaska's Nirukta (etymology) consists of three parts, viz.: (i) Naighantuka, a collection of synonyms; (ii) Naigama, a collection of words peculiar to the Vedas, and (iii) Daivata, words relating to deities and sacrifices.

It tells of various attempts to interpret difficult Vedic mythologies. The work is in the form of explanations of words and is the basis for later lexicons and dictionaries

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