Sanskritise

S1A1N1S1K5R1I1T1I1S1E1

A form of Sanskritize — To render a non-Sanskrit text, word, etc., in a form characteristic of Sanskrit morphology or phonology.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

verbSanskritise (third-person singular simple present Sanskritises, present participle Sanskritising, simple past and past participle Sanskritised)

present singular third person Sanskritises · participle present Sanskritising · participle past Sanskritised · past Sanskritised

  1. UKalternativeAlternative spelling of Sanskritize.

    The New Testament was translated in 1818 into this Dialect in the Nágari Character, and much Sanskritised.

    1878, Robert N[eedham] Cust, “Aryan Family”, in A Sketch of the Modern Languages of the East Indies. […] (Trübner’s Oriental Series; IV), London: Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC, page 60
    5 more examples

    Of late years there has, however, been a strong tendency to Sanskritise the written Bengali, so much so that the Bengali of our school books had begun to differ widely from the language spoken and understood by an intelligent but unlettered man from the streets.

    1872, “The Department of Education”, in Report on the Administration of Bengal: 1871–72, Calcutta, West Bengal: […] Bengal Secretariat Press, →OCLC, part I (The General Report), page 249

    One feels further inclined to derive the Sanskrit amśa, a portion, from the aforesaid pañchu, añju, as a Sanskritising of a popular word.

    1875, Robert Caldwell, quoting Hermann Gundert, “Part IV. The Numerals.”, in A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, 2nd edition, London: Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC, page 233

    Both imaginary words are no doubt the result of an unhappy attempt to Sanskritise a Prâkrit nippalâva by scribes unacquainted with the Sanskrit palâva (Pâli palâpa).

    1884, “Skilfulness”, in H[endrik] Kern, transl., edited by F[riedrich] Max Müller, The Saddharma-Pu[ṇḍ]arîka or The Lotus of the True Law (The Sacred Books of the East; XXI), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, footnote 1, page 39

    Literary Bengali of prose, during the greater part of the 19th century, was thus a doubly artificial language; and, with its forms belonging to Middle Bengali, and its vocabulary highly Sanskritised, it could only be compared to a 'Modern English' with a Chaucerian grammar and a super-Johnsonian vocabulary, if such a thing could be conceived.

    1926, Suniti Kumar Chatterji, The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language, Calcutta, West Bengal: Calcutta University Press, →OCLC, page 134

    Sometimes Prakrit words were wrongly Sanskritised. Reference may be made in this connection to utkṛṣṭi derived from Prakrit ukkuṭṭhi (Sanskrit utkrośa) meaning 'wailing'. Similar is the case with ḍheṅku-kaḍḍhaka and nīla-ḍumphaka which appear to have been imperfectly Sanskritised.

    1965, D. C. Sircar [i.e., Dineshchandra Sircar], “Technical Expressions”, in Indian Epigraphy, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, published 1996, →ISBN, page 426

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

Sanskritise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Sanskritise

MLA

“Sanskritise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Sanskritise. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Sanskritise,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Sanskritise.

Source: Sanskritise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.