A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary

by Arthur Anthony Macdonell

This Dictionary includes the vocabulary of Post-Vedic literature with emphasis on philosophical, grammatical and rhetorical terms. Further this is the only handy dictionary of its kind which breaks a word into its component parts and refers to the roots deducible from Sanskrit derivatives alone by way of comparative derivatives alone by way of comparative philological analysis. The work is therefore highly useful for the etymological analysis and linguistic training.
"The classic work by a renowned scholar has several advantages over other similar works because of its distinct features.
"It is much more copious than other lexicons for Sanskrit students. It contains nearly double as much material as other Sanskrit works of the same character.
"Another merit of the work is that it is the only one of its kind that is transliterated and can thus be used with advantage by comparative philologists not conversant with the Devanagari alphabet.
"Further it is etymological in character and gives a derivative analysis of all the words it contains. This enhances its utility from a linguistic point of view and its practical value to the students. It would help the students better remember the meanings of words once they are equipped with their derivation.
"Lastly it is the only lexicon of its type that indicates not only with respect to words, but also to their meanings, the literary period to which they belong and the frequency or rarity of their occurrence—a feature which is so important for both the scholars and the students."
Excluding all words and meanings that occur in native lexicographers, but are not to be found in actual literature, this lexicon contains nearly double as much material as other Sanskrit works of the same character. This book is, moreover, the only one of its kind that is transliterated. It can thus be used, for example, by comparative philologists not knowing a single letter of the Devanagari alphabet. This is, further, the only similar Sanskrit dictionary that is etymological in any sense, for it gives a derivative analysis of all the words it contains. This feature increases both its usefulness from a linguistic point of view and its practical value to the student, who will always better remember the meaning of a word, the derivation of which is made clear to her. Lastly, this is the only lexicon of its type that indicates not only with respect to words, but also to their meanings, the literary period to which they belong and the frequency or rarity of their occurrence. This feature is important to both scholar and student.