The Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English dictionary and its relation to the preceding Böhtlingk/Roth Sanskrit-German dictionary were brought up in recent posts. Before either of these was the very early pioneering Sanskrit-English dictionary by Horace Hayman Wilson. Although it has long ago fallen out of use, it is still useful in one important way: it gives the traditional etymologies of the Sanskrit words. By chance I learned this from the dust jacket of a 1979 reprint of it by Nag Publishers, Delhi. It said they undertook this reprint at the request of Dr. Rasik Vihari Joshi of Delhi University because it is the only dictionary that gives the etymologies.

The Nag Publishers reprint is of the 1900 edition, which they re-titled A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, and to which they added Wilson’s Preface from the first edition of 1819. From this 1819 Preface we learn that Wilson’s material for this dictionary was translated from a voluminous manuscript Sanskrit dictionary compiled by pandits under the final superintendence of Raghumani Bhattacharya and completed in 1809. The title of Wilson’s original 1819 edition, now available for free download from Google Books, reflects this: A Dictionary, Sanscrit and English: Translated, Amended and Enlarged, from an Original Compilation Prepared by Learned Natives for the College of Fort William.

As an example etymology, we may look at what Wilson’s dictionary gives for sākṣin, which Patrick McCartney had asked about on July 12. It uses the abbreviation “E.” for etymology, and gives the Sanskrit words in devanāgarī script, which I here romanize and italicize: “E. sa for saha with, (in presence of,) akṣi the eye, ini aff.” Those of us who have not yet memorized Pāṇini will now have to turn to a reference book to determine what the ini affix is. Two good ones for this are A Dictionary of Sanskrit Grammar, by Kashinath Vasudev Abhyankar and J. M. Shukla (Baroda: Oriental Institute,1961; 2nd rev. ed. 1977), and Dictionary of Pāṇini, by Sumitra Mangesh Katre, 3 vols. (Poona: Deccan College, 1968-1969).

These reference books tell us that ini is the kṛt (i.e., primary) affix or suffix -in, and we are referred to Pāṇini 3.2.93 and 3.2.156-157. This explains the -in ending on sākṣin. We now have to look up akṣi in Wilson’s dictionary to find the root. It gives: “aś to pervade, and si affix.” Again using the Pāṇini dictionaries, we find that si is the unāḍi affix or suffix -si or -ksi, and we are referred to Unāḍi-sūtra 3.155 or Pāṇini 7.2.9. In brief, the root aś plus -si becomes akṣi. This example was a bit complex, but I have found Wilson’s dictionary very helpful for determining the formation of words whose etymology is not obvious. Of course, most of us will also need an English translation of Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhāyī to consult, such as those by Śrīṣa Chandra Vasu or by Sumitra M. Katre.

Best regards,

David Reigle

Colorado, U.S.A.