Pronunciation guide: Devanagari, IAST and endings
Vowels
| अ | a | a in “about” |
| आ | ā | a in “father” (long) |
| इ | i | i in “sit” |
| ई | ī | ee in “see” (long) |
| उ | u | u in “put” |
| ऊ | ū | oo in “food” (long) |
| ऋ | ṛ | vowel r, like “ri” in “rich” (short) |
| ॠ | ṝ | the same, held longer |
| ऌ | ḷ | vowel l, like “le” in “table” |
| ए | e | ay in “day” (always long) |
| ऐ | ai | ai in “aisle” |
| ओ | o | o in “go” (always long) |
| औ | au | ow in “now” |
Vowel signs (mātrās) after a consonant: का kā · कि ki · की kī · कु ku · कू kū · कृ kṛ · के ke · कै kai · को ko · कौ kau. A consonant with no sign has a built-in short a (क = ka).
Consonants
Throat (velar)
| क | k | k in “skin” |
| ख | kh | k with a puff, “blockhead” |
| ग | g | g in “go” |
| घ | gh | gh in “doghouse” |
| ङ | ṅ | ng in “sing” |
Palate
| च | c | ch in “church” |
| छ | ch | ch with a puff, “staunch heart” |
| ज | j | j in “jam” |
| झ | jh | dgeh in “hedgehog” |
| ञ | ñ | ny in “canyon” |
Tongue curled back (retroflex)
| ट | ṭ | t with the tongue tip curled back |
| ठ | ṭh | the same with a puff |
| ड | ḍ | d, tongue curled back |
| ढ | ḍh | the same with a puff |
| ण | ṇ | n, tongue curled back |
Teeth (dental)
| त | t | t with the tongue on the teeth (French t) |
| थ | th | t with a puff, “at home” (never “thin”) |
| द | d | d on the teeth |
| ध | dh | dh in “adhere” |
| न | n | n in “nut” |
Lips
| प | p | p in “spin” |
| फ | ph | p with a puff, “uphill” (never “f”) |
| ब | b | b in “bat” |
| भ | bh | bh in “abhor” |
| म | m | m in “mat” |
Others
| य | y | y in “yes” |
| र | r | a light tapped r |
| ल | l | l in “love” |
| व | v | between v and w |
| श | ś | sh in “shine” |
| ष | ṣ | sh with the tongue curled back |
| स | s | s in “sun” |
| ह | h | h in “hand” |
An h after a consonant (kh, gh, th, dh, ph, bh…) means a puff of breath; it is never the English “th”, “ph” or “sh” sound.
Special signs
| कं | ṃ | anusvāra: a nasal hum, sounding like the nasal of the next consonant (saṃskṛta) |
| कः | ḥ | visarga: a soft breath echoing the vowel before it (devaḥ ≈ “deva-ha”) |
| क् | — | virāma: removes the built-in a (क ka → क् k) |
| कँ | m̐ | candrabindu: the vowel is said through the nose |
| कऽ | ’ | avagraha: an a dropped after e or o (so ’ham = so aham) |
What the marks in IAST mean
- Line on top (ā ī ū ṝ): a long vowel, held about twice as long.
- Dot under r, l (ṛ ṝ ḷ): r or l used as a vowel.
- Dot under t, d, n, s (ṭ ḍ ṇ ṣ): tongue tip curled back (retroflex).
- ṃ: anusvāra (nasal hum) · ḥ: visarga (echoing breath).
- ṅ: ng as in “sing” · ñ: ny as in “canyon” · ś: sh as in “shine”.
Long and short syllables, and stress
A syllable is heavy if its vowel is long (ā ī ū ṝ e ai o au), or it is followed by two consonants, or it ends in ṃ or ḥ; otherwise it is light. Usual modern stress (as in Latin): stress the second-last syllable if it is heavy (saṃ·skṛ·ta: skṛ is light, so the stress falls on the heavy saṃ; ma·hā·bhā·ra·ta; rā·mā·ya·ṇa); if not, go back to the third-last, then the fourth-last. Old Vedic pitch accents are not shown.
Common endings (inflections)
Nouns: deva (masculine, “god”)
| devaḥ | the god (subject) | devāḥ | the gods |
| devam | the god (object) | devān | the gods (object) |
| devena | by / with the god | devaiḥ | by the gods |
| devāya | to / for the god | devebhyaḥ | to / for the gods |
| devāt | from the god | devebhyaḥ | from the gods |
| devasya | of the god | devānām | of the gods |
| deve | in / on the god | deveṣu | in the gods |
| he deva | O god! | he devāḥ | O gods! |
Verbs: bhū “to be, become”, present tense
| bhavati | he / she / it is | bhavanti | they are |
| bhavasi | you are (one person) | bhavatha | you are (several) |
| bhavāmi | I am | bhavāmaḥ | we are |
Dictionary headwords are stems (deva, bhū); in texts the words carry these endings, and sounds join across word boundaries (sandhi).
Sanskrit Dictionary
Dictionary scope: अ a, आ ā, ब b, भ bh, इ i, ई ī, उ u, ऊ ū, ऋ ṛ, ॠ ṝ, ऌ ḷ, ए e, ऐ ai, ओ o, औ au, क k, ख kh, ग g, घ gh, ङ ṅ, च c, छ ch, ज j, झ jh, ञ ñ, ट ṭ, ठ ṭh, ड ḍ, ढ ḍh, ण ṇ, त t, थ th, द d, ध dh, न n, प p, फ ph, म m, य y, र r, ल l, व v, श ś, ष ṣ, स s and ह h · 114,538 entries
Every headword in Monier Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872), in Sanskrit alphabetical order. Jump by letter above, use the page tabs, or keep scrolling — more words load as you go.
Search in IAST (ātman), plain letters (atman), Devanagari (आत्मन्) or English (fire). Pronunciation key · English index · Random entry
Jump to letter
All words A–Z
55,387 headwords · page 198 of 554
- जिरि jirijiriṇoti, etc., to hurt, injure, wound, kill;
- जिल्लिक jillikaname of a people.
- जिवाजिव jivājivaa pheasant;
- जिव्रि jivriold, worn out, decayed, decrepit; (is), m. time; a bird.
- जिष् jiṣjeṣati, etc., to sprinkle;
- जिष्णु jiṣṇuvictorious, triumphant, gaining, winning; (with acc. or at end of comp.) vanquishing…
- जिहान jihānagoing, going to, attaining, obtaining.
- जिहानक jihānakathe destruction of the world;
- जिहासा jihāsādesire of abandoning or giving up.
- जिहासु jihāsudesirous of abandoning or giving up.
- जिहीर्षा jihīrṣādesire of seizing, taking, or robbing; wish to take away or remove.
- जिहीर्षु jihīrṣuwishing to seize, desirous of taking or carrying or removing, wishing to rob or…
- जिहीर्ष्य jihīrṣyadesirable to be taken away or brought near.
- जिह्म jihmasloping, oblique, transverse, diagonal, athwart, squinting (as the eye), crooked, awry…
- जिह्माय jihmāya-yati, -yitum, to go crookedly or in crooked ways.
- जिह्मित jihmitabent, bowed, curved; turned away.
- जिह्मीकृ jihmī-kṛ-karoti, -kartum, to make crooked, bend.
- जिह्व jihvathe tongue; (ā), f. the tongue; the tongue or tongues of Agni, i.e. various forms of…
- जिह्वक jihvakaat the end of an adj. comp. in a-jihvakā, f. tongueless.
- जिह्वल jihvalavoracious, greedy.
- जिह्विका jihvikāa diminutive fr. jihvā;
- जिह्वु jihvuname of a man.
- जी jīin kṛṣṇa-jī and keśava-jī-nanda-śarman, = the Bengālī jī, sir, master, madam, attached to…
- जीत jītaetc. See rt. 1. jyā, p. 352.
- जीति jītifading away. See a-jīti.
- जीन jīnaold, aged; a leather bag.
- जीमूत jīmūtaa cloud; a mountain; name of the sun; name of Indra; a nourisher, a sustainer; the plant…
- जीमूतक jīmūtakathe plant Lipeocercis Serrata.
- जीर jīraquick, speedy, lively, active, busy; driving, exciting; go-jīra, exciting (the milk of)…
- जीरक jīrakaor jīraṇa, as, m. cumin-seed.
- जीरि jīriquick or flowing water.
- जीरिका jīrikāname of a plant, = jīrṇa-pattrikā.
- जीर्ण jīrṇaSee under rt. 1. jṝ.
- जीर्वि jīrvian axe; a cart; the body; an animal.
- जीव् jīv(poet. also A.) jīvati, -te, jijīva, jīviṣyati, jīvitum, to live, be alive; to revive…
- जीव jīvaliving, existing, a living being; causing to live, vivifying; (as), m. the principle of…
- जीवक jīvaka(at the end of a comp.) living, living by, making a livelihood by, causing to live…
- जीवत् jīvatliving, alive; jīvann eva, during life.
- जीवथ jīvathalong-lived; virtuous, pious; (as), m. life, existence, breath; a tortoise; a peacock; a…
- जीवन jīvanaenlivening, vivifying, giving life; (as), m. a living being, an animal; wind; a son; a…
- जीवनक jīvanakaenlivening; (am), n. food; (ikā), f. the tree Terminalia Chebula, = harītakī.
- जीवनस्या jīvanasyādesire of life.
- जीवनीय jīvanīyato be lived; supporting life, name of a particular class of drugs; (ā), f. a kind of…
- जीवन्त jīvantaliving, existent, long-lived; (as), m. life, existence; a medicament, a drug; a kind of…
- जीवन्तिक jīvantikaa fowler, a birdcatcher; see jīvāntaka; (ikā), f. a parasitical plant, Epidendron…
- जीवमान jīvamānaliving, alive.
- जीवल jīvalafull of life, animating; (as), m. a kind of plant; name of a man; (ā), f. a kind of plant.
- जीवातु jīvātulife, existence; (us, u), m. n. victuals, food, boiled rice; a medicine for restoring…
- जीविका jīvikāsee under jīvaka.
- जीवित jīvitalived, lived through (as a period of time), living, alive, existent; revivified, returned…
- जीवितव्य jīvitavyato be lived, to be kept alive; (am), n. the possibility of living; possible return to…
- जीविन् jīvinliving, alive, animate; living upon or by; (ī), m. a living being.
- जीव्य jīvyalife; (ā), f. several plants, = jīvantī, gokṣura-dugdhā; Terminalia Chebula, = harītakī…
- जु jusee 1. jū. The form of this root given in the Dhātu-pāṭha is ju, but the derivatives from…
- जुकुट jukuṭaa dog; the Malaya range of mountains; (am), n. the eggplant, Solanum Melongena;
- जुगुपिषु jugupiṣuintending or wishing to protect.
- जुगुप्सन jugupsanahaving a dislike, detesting; (am), n. censure, abuse, reproach, reviling, dislike, horror.
- जुगुप्सा jugupsācensure; dislike, aversion, abhorrence, disgust.
- जुगुप्सित jugupsitareviled, blamed, censured, abused.
- जुगुप्सु jugupsuhaving a dislike or disgust.
- जुगुर्वणि jugurvaṇifond of praise, wishing to praise; (Sāy.) favouring the praiser.
- जुङ्ग् juṅgjuṅgati, etc., to quit, abandon; to except, exclude;
- जुङ्ग juṅgaor juṅgaka, as, m. a kind of plant, Argyreia Speciosa or Argentea.
- जुङ्गित juṅgitadeserted, injured, abandoned, outcast; (as), m. a man of a degraded caste, a Cāṇḍāla etc.
- जुञ्च् juñc(?), cl. 1. 10. P. juñcati, juñcayati, etc., to speak.
- जुट् juṭjuṭati, etc., a various reading for juḍ, to bind;
- जुटक juṭakaa braid of hair, any knot or fillet of hair; (ikā), f. = cūḍā, a tuft of hair on the top…
- जुड् juḍjuḍati, etc., to bind, to join together; cl. 10. P. joḍayati, etc., to send, cast or…
- जुत् jutjotate, to shine;
- जुतुम jutumaand juthuma, two incorrect readings for jituma, q.v.
- जुन् junjunati, etc., to go; (a various reading has juḍ.]
- जुमर jumaraname of a grammarian.
- जुम्बक jumbakaname of Varuṇa.
- जुर्1 jur(related to 1. jṝ), cl. 6. 4. P., Vedic jurati, jūryati, jujora (?), etc., to decay…
- जुर्2 juran old man;
- जुर्य juryabecoming old;
- जूर्ण jūrṇadecayed, old.
- जूर्णी jūrṇīname of a snake.
- जूर्य jūryabecoming old, aged, weak, an old man.
- जुर्व् jurvSee jūrv.
- जुल् juljolayati, etc., to reduce to powder, grind.
- जुवस् juvasSee under rt. jū.
- जुष्1 juṣ(ep. also P.) juṣate, -ti, jujuṣe, joṣiṣyate, ajoṣiṣṭa, joṣitum, to be pleased or…
- जुष्2 juṣliking, fond of, devoted to (with acc.); visiting, approaching;
- जुषाण juṣāṇaname of a sacrificial formula containing the word juṣāṇa, pres. part. of rt. 1. juṣ.
- जुष्ट juṣṭagratified, pleased, propitiated, propitious, favourable; liked, wished, loved, agreeable…
- जुष्टि juṣṭilove, service, favour, satisfaction.
- जुष्य juṣyato be served or worshipped.
- जोष joṣaetc. See p. 351, col. 2.
- जुष्3 juṣjoṣati, joṣa-yati, etc., to reason, think, conceive, imagine, investigate, examine; to…
- जुष्क juṣkaname of one of the three Turuṣka kings in Kaśmīra.
- जुष्कक juṣkaka= yūṣa, the water of boiled pulse, pease-soup, porridge, etc.
- जुहु juhu= 2. juhū below.
- जुहुराण juhurāṇathe moon;
- जुहुवाण juhuvāṇafire, (also spelt juhūvāṇa); a sacrificing priest.
- जुहुवान juhuvānafire; a tree; a hard-hearted man.
- जुहूराण juhūrāṇa(a corrupt form), fire; a sacrificing priest; the moon.
- जुहू1 juhūa tongue; especially the tongue or tongues of Agni, the flames; sapta juhvaḥ, the seven…
- जुहू2 juhūa wooden ladle or vessel of the shape of a semicircle or crescent, used for pouring the…
- जुहोति juhotia technical name for those sacrificial ceremonies to which the verb juhoti and not yajati…
Source and licence. Monier Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Etymologically and Philologically Arranged (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1872; first edition). Digital text: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries (MW72, csl-orig/v02/mw72), © Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon project contributors, Cologne University, accessed 7 October 2026, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, provided without warranty.
Changes made here: entries for अ a, आ ā, ब b, भ bh, इ i, ई ī, उ u, ऊ ū, ऋ ṛ, ॠ ṝ, ऌ ḷ, ए e, ऐ ai, ओ o, औ au, क k, ख kh, ग g, घ gh, ङ ṅ, च c, छ ch, ज j, झ jh, ञ ñ, ट ṭ, ठ ṭh, ड ḍ, ढ ḍh, ण ṇ, त t, थ th, द d, ध dh, न n, प p, फ ph, म m, य y, र r, ल l, व v, श ś, ष ṣ, स s and ह h only; meanings trimmed for length and MW abbreviations expanded; Devanagari generated from the SLP1 keys with indic_transliteration; spelling notes, IPA pronunciations and labelled (“inferred”/“not given”) etymologies added. This adapted dictionary text is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Fonts: Noto Serif and Noto Serif Devanagari (SIL Open Font License).