SKIP TO CONTENT

Sanskrit

/ˌsænˈskrɪt/
/ˈsænzkrɪt/
IPA guide

Sanskrit is an ancient language that originated in South Asia and is considered sacred in Hinduism. Though Sanskrit isn't commonly spoken, its written form is used regularly in religious and academic contexts.

Sanskrit is a classical language that's been used for thousands of years by Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains for philosophical and religious writing. The name Sanskrit comes from samskrtam, "well-formed or perfected," reflecting the language's refinement and literary importance. Sanskrit has influenced dozens of other languages, including English; words like avatar, lilac, ginger, shampoo, and many more all have Sanskrit roots.

Definitions of Sanskrit
  1. noun
    (Hinduism) an ancient language of India (the language of the Vedas and of Hinduism); an official language of India although it is now used only for religious purposes
    see moresee less
    types:
    Gypsy, Romany
    the Indic language of the Gypsies
    Urdu
    the official literary language of Pakistan, closely related to Hindi; widely used in India (mostly by Moslems); written in Arabic script
    Hindi
    the most widely spoken of modern Indic vernaculars; spoken mostly in the north of India; along with English it is the official language of India; usually written in Devanagari script
    Bihari
    the Indic language spoken in Bihar (and by some people in Pakistan and Bangladesh)
    Magadhan
    a subfamily of Indic languages
    Mahratti, Marathi
    an Indic language; the state language of Maharashtra in west central India; written in the Devanagari script
    Gujarati, Gujerati
    the Indic language spoken by the people of India who live in Gujarat in western India
    Panjabi, Punjabi
    the Indic language spoken by most people in Punjab in northwestern India
    Singhalese, Sinhala, Sinhalese
    the Indic language spoken by the people of Sri Lanka
    Hindoostani, Hindostani, Hindustani
    a form of Hindi spoken around Delhi
    Asamiya, Assamese
    the Magadhan language spoken by the Assamese people; closely related to Bengali
    Bangla, Bengali
    a Magadhan language spoken by the Bengali people; the official language of Bangladesh and Bengal
    Oriya
    a Magadhan language that is spoken by the Oriya and is the official language of the Indian state of Orissa
    type of:
    Indic, Indo-Aryan
    a branch of the Indo-Iranian family of languages
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago

Copy citation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘Sanskrit'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family