ग्रीवा

Sanskrit

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-Aryan *griHwáH, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *griHwáH, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷriHwéh₂. Cognate with Avestan 𐬔𐬭𐬍𐬎𐬎𐬁 (grīuuā), Latvian grĩva (“river mouth”), Proto-Slavic *griva (“mane”).

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /ɡɾiː.ʋɑ́ː/
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɾiː.ʋɑː/

Noun

ग्रीवा • (grīvā́) stem, f

1. the back part of the neck, nape, neck (in the earlier literature generally used in plural)
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 6.48.17:

     मा काकम्बीरमुद वर्हो वनस्पतिमशस्तीर्वि हि नीनशः। मोत सूरो अह एवा चन ग्रीवा आदधते वेः।

     mā kākambīramuda varho vanaspatimaśastīrvi hi nīnaśaḥ. mota sūro aha evā cana grīvā ādadhate veḥ.

     Tear not up by the roots the Kakambira tree: destroy thou all malignity. Let them not snare by day the neck of that Celestial Bird the Sun.

Declension

Descendants

• → Malayalam: ഗ്രീവ (grīva)

References

• Monier Williams (1899) “ग्रीवा”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 0374.