प्राचीन

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit प्राचीन (prācī́na) (with the sense "old" from Classical Sanskrit).

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /pɾɑː.t͡ʃiːn/,

प्राचीन • (prācīn) (indeclinable, Urdu spelling پراچین) (formal)

1. ancient, old

   Synonyms: पुराना (purānā), पुराण (purāṇ), क़दीम (qadīm)

   • 2018, Dr. Nirmal Kumar Patni, जन्मांग संशोधन, संश्लेषण, गूढ़, आध्यात्म ज्योतिष, Titiksha, page 134:

     अति प्राचीन काल मे भारत मे द्रविड़ साम्राज्य था, जिस समय आर्य संस्कृति भारत मे व्याप नही हो सकी थी, उस समय दक्षिण मे द्रविड़ सभ्यता अपने चरम पर थी। द्रविड़ शिवभक्त और लिंगपूजक थे।

     ati prācīn kāl me bhārat me draviṛ sāmrājya thā, jis samay ārya sanskŕti bhārat me vyāp nahī ho sakī thī, us samay dakṣiṇ me draviṛ sabhyatā apne caram par thī. draviṛ śivbhakt aur liṅgpūjak the.

     In very ancient times, in India, there was the Dravidian empire. At the time Aryan culture was not prevalant in India, the Dravidian civilisation was at its peak in the south. The Dravidians were devotees of Śiva and phallus-worshippers.

2. facing the east, eastward, eastern

   Synonym: पूर्वीय (pūrvīya)

• Dāsa, Śyāmasundara (1965–1975) “प्राचीन”, in Hindī Śabdasāgara [lit. Sea of Hindi words] (in Hindi), Kashi : Nagari Pracarini Sabha, page 3219
• Platts, John T. (1884) “प्राचीन”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 235
• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “प्राचीन”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press, page 668
• “प्राचीन”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary , Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /pɾɑː.t͡ɕíː.nɐ/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /pɾɑːˈt͡ɕiː.n̪ɐ/

From प्राञ्च् (prāñc) +‎ -ईन (-īna).

प्राचीन • (prācī́na) stem

1. facing the east, eastward, eastern
   1. facing the front (east as the direction in one's front while praying)
      • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 7.7.3:

        प्राचीनो यज्ञः सुधितं हि बर्हिः प्रीणीते अग्निरीळितो न होता। आ मातरा विश्ववारे हुवानो यतो यविष्ठ जज्ञिषे सुशेवः॥

        prācīno yajñaḥ sudhitaṃ hi barhiḥ prīṇīte agnirīḷito na hotā. ā mātarā viśvavāre huvāno yato yaviṣṭha jajñiṣe suśevaḥ.

        In front is the sacrifice, well-placed is the sacred grass, pleased is Agni; one prayed, thou art like a priest of the call, calling to the two mothers in whom are all desirable things, whence thou art born most young and blissful.

2. (Classical Sanskrit) old, ancient
   • c. 200 BCE – 200 CE, Manusmṛti

• Pali: pācīna
• Prakrit: 𑀧𑀸𑀈𑀡 (pāīṇa), 𑀧𑀸𑀇𑀡 (pāiṇa)
• → Assamese: প্ৰাচীন (prasin)
• → Bengali: প্রাচীন (pracin)
• → Gujarati: પ્રાચીન (prācīn)
• → Hindustani: prācīn

  Hindi: प्राचीन

  Urdu: پَراچِین

• → Marathi: प्राचीन (prācīn)
• → Nepali: प्राचीन (prācīna), प्राचीन् (prācīn)
• → Odia: ପ୍ରାଚୀନ (prācina)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

प्राचीन • (prācīna) stem, m or n

1. (Classical Sanskrit) alternative form of प्राचीर (prācīra, “wall, enclosure”)

• Monier Williams (1899) “प्राचीन”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 704.
• Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2025) “prācīna”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.
• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “प्राचीन”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan, page 1126
• Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1893) “प्राचीन”, in A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout, London: Oxford University Press, page 184
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “prācīˊna”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 500