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Sanskrit - 6 dictionary results

San⋅skrit

  [san-skrit]
Use Sanskrit in a Sentence
–noun
1. an Indo-European, Indic language, in use since c1200 b.c. as the religious and classical literary language of India. Abbreviation: Skt
–adjective
2. Also, San⋅skrit⋅ic, San⋅scrit⋅ic. of or pertaining to Sanskrit.
Also, Sanscrit.

Origin:
1610–20; < Skt saṃskṛta adorned, perfected

Related forms:
San⋅skrit⋅ist, San⋅scrit⋅ist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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San·skrit   (sān'skrĭt')   
n.  An ancient Indic language that is the language of Hinduism and the Vedas and is the classical literary language of India.

[Sanskrit saṃskṛtam, from neuter of saṃskṛta-, perfected, refined : sam, together; see sem-1 in Indo-European roots + karoti, he makes; see kwer- in Indo-European roots.]
San'skrit'ist n.
Word History: Like Latin in Europe and elsewhere, Sanskrit has been used by the educated classes in India for literary and religious purposes for over two thousand years. It achieved this status partly through a standardization that resulted from a long tradition of grammatical theory and analysis. This tradition reached its height around 500 B.C. in the work of the grammarian Panini, who composed an intricate and complex description of the language in the form of quasi-mathematical rules reminiscent of the rules of generative grammar in modern times. The language thus codified was called saṃskṛtam, "put together, artificial," to distinguish it from prākṛtam or the "natural, vulgar" speech of ordinary people. Sanskrit thus became a fixed literary language, while Prakrit continued to develop into what are now the modern spoken languages of northern and central India, such as Hindi and Bengali.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sanskrit

San"skrit\, n. [Skr. Samsk[.r]ta the Sanskrit language, literally, the perfect, polished, or classical language, fr. samsk[.r]ta prepared, wrought, made, excellent, perfect; sam together (akin to E. same) + k[.r]ta made. See Same, Create.] [Written also Sanscrit.] The ancient language of the Hindoos, long since obsolete in vernacular use, but preserved to the present day as the literary and sacred dialect of India. It is nearly allied to the Persian, and to the principal languages of Europe, classical and modern, and by its more perfect preservation of the roots and forms of the primitive language from which they are all descended, is a most important assistance in determining their history and relations. Cf. Prakrit, and Veda.

Sanskrit

San"skrit\, a. Of or pertaining to Sanskrit; written in Sanskrit; as, a Sanskrit dictionary or inscription.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Sanskrit

The language of ancient India, and one of the oldest languages of the Indo-European family, to which English belongs.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Sanskrit 
1617, from Skt. samskrtam "put together, well-formed, perfected," from sam "together" + krta- "to make, do, perform." The first element is cognate with Eng. same, the second is from PIE *k(w)er- "to make, form" (related to karma).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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