text: Etymology The origin of 'apsara' is the Sanskrit अप्सरस्, apsaras (in the stem form, which is the dictionary form). Note that he stem form ends in 's' as distinct from, e.g. the nominative singular Ramas/Ramaḥ (the deity Ram in Hindi), whose stem form is Rama. The nominative singular form is अप्सरास् apsarās, or अप्सरा: apsarāḥ when standing alone, which becomes अप्सरा apsarā in Hindi, from which in turn the English "apsara" presumably is derived. The Monier-Williams Dictionary gives the etymology as अप् + √सृ, "going in the waters or between the waters of the clouds".
  Apsaras are widely known as Apsara ( ) in Khmer, and also called Accharā in Pāli, or Bidadari (Malay, Maranao), Biraddali  (Tausug, Sinama), Hapsari/Apsari or Widadari/Widyadari (Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese), Helloi (Meitei) and Apsorn ().
  Literature
  The most ancient descriptions of apsara portray them as "water nymph"-like beings.
  The Rigveda tells of an apsara who is the wife of Gandharva; however, the Rigveda also seems to allow for the existence of more than one apsara.
  The only apsara specifically named is Urvashi.  An entire hymn deals with the colloquy between Urvashi and her mortal lover Pururavas. Later Hindu scriptures allow for the existence of numerous apsaras, who act as the handmaidens of Indra or as dancers at his celestial court serving as musicians alongside the gandharvas ("celestial musicians").
  The Kaushitaki Upanishad mentions apsaras as a class of divinities associated with ointments, garlands, vestments, and powdered aromatics.