Type any Sanskrit word in Devanagari (धर्म), IAST (dharma) or simple English letters (dharma, shanti, krishna) and get its meanings in English. Type several words to look each one up in turn.
Sources: V. S. Apte, The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1890) and The Student’s English-Sanskrit Dictionary (1884), digitised by the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries, CC BY-SA 4.0. Entries are shortened; old-fashioned English glosses are kept as printed.
Common Sanskrit words and their meanings
| Sanskrit | IAST | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| धर्मः | dharmaḥ | 1 Religion the customary observances of a caste sect, &c.; 2 Law, usage, practice… |
| कर्मन् | karman | n. 1 Action, work, deed.; 2 Execution, performance.; 3 Business, office, duty; संप्रति विषवैद्यानां… |
| योगः | yogaḥ | 1 Joining, uniting.; 2 Union, junction, combination; उपरागांते शशिनः समुपगता रोहिणी योगं; गुणमहतां महते… |
| आत्मन् | ātman | m. 1 The soul, the individual soul, the breath, the principle of life and… |
| मोक्षः | mokṣaḥ | 1 Liberation, release, escape, freedom; साऽधुना तव बंधे मोक्षे च प्रभवति;; लब्धमोक्षाः शुकादयः; धुर्याणां… |
| भक्तिः | bhaktiḥ | f. 1 Separation, partition, division.; 2 A division, portion, share.; 3 (a) Devotion, attachment,… |
| शांतिः | śāṃtiḥ | f. 1 Pacification, allayment, alleviation, removal; अध्वरविघातशांतये ,; 2 Calmness, tranquillity, quiet, ease, rest,… |
| सत्य | satya | a. 1 True, real, genuine; as in सत्यव्रत, सत्यसंध.; 2 Honest, sincere, truthful, faithful.;… |
| ज्ञानं | jñānaṃ | 1 Knowing, understanding, becoming acquainted with, proficiency; सांख्यस्य योगस्य च ज्ञानं; 2 Knowledge, learning;… |
| गुरु | guru | a. (रु-र्वी) f. compar. गरीयस्; superl. गरिष्ठ 1 Heavy, weighty (opp. लघु); (fig. also);… |
How to type Sanskrit
- Devanagari works directly: paste or type कृष्ण, शान्ति, गुरु.
- IAST with diacritics gives the most precise match: kṛṣṇa, śānti.
- Plain letters work too: sh for ś and ṣ, aa for ā, ri for ṛ. Aspirates (kh, gh, th, dh, bh) are matched loosely.
- Nouns are listed in their dictionary form, often with the ending -ḥ or -m; verbs are listed by their root (√).
Can it translate whole sentences?
It looks words up one by one. Sanskrit words change their endings and join together (sandhi), so a full sentence needs grammar as well as a dictionary. Our lessons on cases and sandhi show how to read whole verses.