पर्शु

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *párćuš, from Proto-Indo-European *pérḱus. Cognate with Avestan 𐬞𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬯𐬎𐬱 (pər^əsuš, “rib, side”), Northern Kurdish parsû (“rib”), Ossetian фарс (fars, “side”), Old Church Slavonic прьси (prĭsi, “breast”); see also पृष्टि (pṛṣṭi, “rib”).

In the Rigveda, this word means only "rib", but it came also to mean "sickle" in the later Atharvaveda. This semantic transfer becomes clear when we take into consideration the rib-like shape of the sickle and realize that the rib of a horse was actually sharpened to produce the instrument.

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /pɐ́ɾ.ɕu/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /ˈpɐɾ.ɕu/

पर्शु • (párśu) stem, m

1. a rib
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.105.8:

     सं मा॑ तपन्त्य॒भित॑: स॒पत्नी॑रिव॒ पर्श॑वः।
     मूषो॒ न शि॒श्ना व्य॑दन्ति मा॒ध्य॑: स्तो॒तारं॑ ते शतक्रतो वि॒त्तं मे॑ अ॒स्य रो॑दसी॥

     sáṃ mā tapantyabhíta: sapátnīriva párśavaḥ.
     mū́ṣo ná śiśnā́ vyadanti mādhyà: stotā́raṃ te śatakrato vittáṃ me asyá rodasī.

     The ribs (of the well close) round me, like the rival wives (of one husband); cares consume me, Śatakratu, although your worshipper, as a rat (gnaws a weaver's) threads.
     Heaven and earth, be conscious of this (my affliction).

2. curved knife, sickle
   • c. 1200 BCE – 1000 BCE, Atharvaveda 12.3.31:

     प्र यच्छ पर्शुं त्वरया हरौसमहिंसन्त ओषधीर्दान्तु पर्वन् ।
     यासां सोमः परि राज्यं बभूवामन्युता नो वीरुधो भवन्तु ॥

     pra yaccha parśuṃ tvarayā harausamahiṃsanta oṣadhīrdāntu parvan.
     yāsāṃ somaḥ pari rājyaṃ babhūvāmanyutā no vīrudho bhavantu.

     Present the sickle: quickly bring it hither. Let them out plants and joints with hands that harm not.
     So may the plants be free from wrath against us, they o'er whose realm Soma hath won dominion.

3. name of a man
4. (in the plural) name of a warrior-tribe

• पार्श्व (pārśva)

• पृष्टि (pṛṣṭi)

• Dardic:
  • Shina: प्रशु (práśu)
  • Punjabi: ਪੱਸਲੀ (passalī)
• ⇒ Prakrit: 𑀧𑀁𑀲𑀼𑀮𑀺𑀆 (paṃsuliā)
  • Gujarati: પાંસળી (pā̃saḷī)
  • Hindi: पसली (paslī)
  • Old Marathi: पासोळी (pāsoḷī), पांसोळी (pāṃsoḷī)
    • Marathi: फासळी (phāsḷī)

पर्शु • (párśu) stem, f

1. the supporting or side wall of a well
2. name of a woman

• Monier Williams (1899) “पर्शु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 609/2.
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎ (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 100-101
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “párśu”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 448