वर्ष

Hindi

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit वर्ष (varṣa, “rain, raining; year”). Doublet of बरस (baras).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi Hindi) IPA^(key): /ʋəɾʂ/,

Noun

वर्ष • (varṣ) m

1. annum, year

   Synonyms: बरस (baras), साल (sāl)

Declension

Marathi

Marathi Wikipedia has an article on:

वर्ष

Wikipedia ^mr

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit वर्ष (varṣa, “rain, raining; year”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋəɾ.ʂə/

• Audio

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Noun

वर्ष • (varṣa) n

1. year

   Synonyms: वरीस (varīs), साल (sāl)

Declension

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁wers-ó-m, from the root *h₁wers- (“to rain”). Cognate with Ancient Greek ἕρση (hérsē, “dew”), Old Irish frass (“rain-shower”).

The meaning "year" developed from the fact that a year can be interpreted as the period of time from one monsoon to the next and any point of time a particular number of years into the past or future can be expressed as that many monsoons ago or later.

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /ʋɐɾ.ʂɐ́/
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈʋɐɾ.ʂɐ/

Noun

वर्ष • (varṣá) stem, n or m

1. rain, raining, a shower
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 5.58.7:

     प्रथि॑ष्ट॒ याम॑न्पृथि॒वी चि॑देषां॒ भर्ते॑व॒ गर्भं॒ स्वमिच्छवो॑ धुः।
     वाता॒न्ह्यश्वा॑न्धु॒र्या॑युयु॒ज्रे व॒र्षं स्वेदं॑ चक्रिरे रु॒द्रिया॑सः॥

     práthiṣṭa yā́manpṛthivī́ cideṣāṃ bhárteva gárbhaṃ svámícchávo dhuḥ.
     vā́tānhyáśvāndhuryā̀yuyujré varṣáṃ svédaṃ cakrire rudríyāsaḥ.

     On their approach the earth becomes capable of fertility, and they deposit in her water as their germ, as the husband genitive rates the embryo of the child; they have harnessed their horses fleet as the wind; the sons of Rudra have made it rain.

2. (in the plural) the rains, rainy season
   • c. 1200 BCE – 1000 BCE, Atharvaveda
3. a year
4. a division of the earth as separated off by certain mountain ranges (9 such divisions are enumerated, namely कुरु (kuru), हिरण्मय (hiraṇmaya), रम्यक (ramyaka), इलावृत (ilāvṛta), हरि (hari); केतुमाला (ketumālā), भद्राश्व (bhadrāśva), किंनर (kiṃnara), and भारत (bhārata); sometimes the number given is 7)

Declension

Derived terms

• वर्षा (varṣā́)

Descendants

Adjective

वर्ष • (varṣá) stem

1. raining

   कामवर्ष ― kāmavarṣa ― raining according to one's wish

Declension

References

• Monier Williams (1899) “वर्ष”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 0926/3.
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎ (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 522-3