Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- an Indo-European, Indic language, in use since c1200 b.c. as the religious and classical literary language of India. Abbreviation: Skt
adjective
- Also San·skrit·ic, San·scrit·ic. of or relating to Sanskrit.
adjective
- of or relating to Sanskrit
- denoting or belonging to those Indic languages that developed directly from Sanskrit, such as Pali, Hindi, Punjabi, and Bengali
noun
- this group of languages
noun
- an ancient language of India, the language of the Vedas, of Hinduism, and of an extensive philosophical and scientific literature dating from the beginning of the first millennium bc. It is the oldest recorded member of the Indic branch of the Indo-European family of languages; recognition of the existence of the Indo-European family arose in the 18th century from a comparison of Sanskrit with Greek and Latin. Although it is used only for religious purposes, it is one of the official languages of India
n.1610s, from Sanskrit samskrtam “put together, well-formed, perfected,” neuter of samskrta, from sam “together” (see same) + krta- “to make, do, perform,” from PIE *k(w)er- “to make, form” (related to karma). “so called as being the cultivated or literary language, distinguished from the vulgar dialects, or, some say, because regarded as a perfect language, the speech of the gods, formed by infallible rules” [Century Dictionary]. The language of ancient India, and one of the oldest languages of the Indo-European family, to which English belongs.