Đevanāgarī or Nāgarī
Nāgarī (नागरी) and Đevanāgarī (देवनागरी) are both terms used to refer to the same script. This script, 'ĐevaNāgarī' is used for writing Hinđī, Sanskṛiŧ, Marāthī, Nepālī, and many other scripts of South Asia. The choice between the terms 'Nāgarī' and 'ĐevaNāgarī' should not be a subject of debate.
Some scholars use the word 'Nāgarī' to represent an older form of the script. I don't agree. In most dictionaries, both words are defined as synonyms.
The information provided here is not necessary for someone who wishes to learn Nāgarī. If you would like to learn more about Nāgarī or Hinđī read on...
'Kāshī Nāgarī Prachāriṇī Sabhā' was a significant, albeit small, organization. It was established to promote the ĐevaNāgarī script and Hinđī. In the late 19th century, the 'Sabhā' resolved to publish a comprehensive Hinđī dictionary in Nāgarī script. Their research team collected a vast number of Hinđī words over 20 years from various sources. The result was 'Shabđa Sāgar' (शब्द सागर / sea of words).
The research team was led by the editor Shyām-sunđar-đās. There were five assistant editors - Bāl-kriṣhṇa Bhatta, Rām-chanđra Shuklā, Amīr-Sin̐h, Jag-mohan Varmā and Bhagvān-đīn. Apart from this team, there were others who collected words from different sources. Particularly Munshī Rām-laganlāl collected many words by talking to people involved in various trades.
By any measure, 'Shabđa Sāgar' is a great dictionary of Hinđī. Its second edition was published in 1924. The second edition contains 93,115 words in 3,999 pages spanning eight volumes. It also contains lot of information about Nāgarī and Hinđī.
As 'Kāshī Nāgarī Prachāriṇī Sabhā' used the word 'Nāgarī' instead of 'ĐevaNāgarī' in its title, we can say that the word 'Nāgarī' was in use in the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
According to 'Shabđa Sāgar', both words are synonyms. In 'Shabđa Sāgar', under the entry for 'Nāgarī' they instructed readers to refer to 'ĐevaNāgarī'. The script was described in great detail under the entry for 'ĐevaNāgarī', and every time they used the word 'Nāgarī'. This dictionary also published Shri Ozha's chart showing the evolution of Nāgarī from Brāhmī, which is the ancient script of India.
The word Nāgarī (नागरी) seems to have been derived from the word 'Nāgar' (नागर). According to 'Shabđa Sāgar', 'Nāgar' means 'related to city' (and probably 'in the city').
In my opinion, as information and knowledge are the core of a civilization, and a script is used to preserve it, we could say the word Nāgarī indicates 'a thing related to civilization'. Although there is no mention of this in my knowledge.
In some dictionaries, 'Nāgarī' is described simply as the 'script of [the] city'. City is Nagar (नगर) and not Nāgar (नागर). In Sanskṛiŧ and Hinđī, Đev (देव) simply means 'deity'. It is often used to refer to divine or celestial beings in Hinđuism. Some English dictionaries describe ĐevaNāgarī as the 'script of [the] divine city' or even 'devine city'. I don't agree. In my opinion, the word 'Nāgarī' is older, and 'Đev' was added afterwards (just) to show respect!
Some relate this word to 'Nāgar Brāhmaṇ/s' (a sub-caste of priests), but there is no proof of that.
To read about other alternate spellings like 'devnagari', click here.
Please let me know if I made any mistakes in the above text. This text is written by me without any help from any web page, book, or article except the second edition of 'Shabđa Sāgar' - Akhilesh Gupŧā.
About a decade agp, most of the web resources (e.g., Wikipedia) used to refer to Nāgarī as an older form of ĐevaNāgarī, but now most of them agree that these are synonyms, yet nobody acknowledged this page! And then they request donations from ordinary people like me.
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