चक्र

Hindi

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit चक्र (cakra). Doublet of चक्कर (cakkar) and चरख़ा (carxā).

Pronunciation

(Delhi) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃək.ɾᵊ/, [t͡ʃɐk.ɾᵊ]

Noun

चक्र • (cakra) m (Urdu spelling چکر)

circle, ring
wheel
cycle; sequence, progression
जल चक्र ― jal cakra ― water cycle
(historical) chakram (an old Indian coin from Travancore)

Declension

Declension of *चक्र* (masc cons-stem)
	singular	plural
direct	चक्र cakra	चक्र cakra
oblique	चक्र cakra	चक्रों cakrõ
vocative	चक्र cakra	चक्रो cakro

Synonyms

चक्कर (cakkar) (less formal)

Derived terms

References

Bahri, Hardev (1989) “चक्र”, in Siksarthi Hindi-Angrejhi Sabdakosa [Learners' Hindi-English Dictionary], Delhi: Rajpal & Sons.
Caturvedi, Mahendra, Bhola Nath Tiwari (1970) “चक्र”, in A practical Hindi-English dictionary, Delhi: National Publishing House
“चक्र”, in Collins Gem Hindi-English Dictionary, Collins, 2011, →ISBN
Dāsa, Śyāmasundara (1965–1975) “चक्र”, in Hindī Śabdasāgara [lit. Sea of Hindi words] (in Hindi), Kashi [Varanasi]: Nagari Pracarini Sabha
McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “चक्र”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
Platts, John T. (1884) “चक्र”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

চক্ৰ (Assamese script)
ᬘᬓ᭄ᬭ (Balinese script)
চক্র (Bengali script)
𑰓𑰎𑰿𑰨 (Bhaiksuki script)
𑀘𑀓𑁆𑀭 (Brahmi script)
စကြ (Burmese script)
ચક્ર (Gujarati script)
ਚਕ੍ਰ (Gurmukhi script)
𑌚𑌕𑍍𑌰 (Grantha script)
ꦕꦏꦿ (Javanese script)
𑂒𑂍𑂹𑂩 (Kaithi script)
ಚಕ್ರ (Kannada script)
ចក្រ (Khmer script)
ຈກ຺ຣ (Lao script)
ചക്ര (Malayalam script)
ᢜᠠᡬᡵᠠ (Manchu script)
𑘓𑘎𑘿𑘨 (Modi script)
ᢋᠠᢉᠷᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
𑦳𑦮𑧠𑧈 (Nandinagari script)
𑐔𑐎𑑂𑐬 (Newa script)
ଚକ୍ର (Odia script)
ꢗꢒ꣄ꢬ (Saurashtra script)
𑆖𑆑𑇀𑆫 (Sharada script)
𑖓𑖎𑖿𑖨 (Siddham script)
චක්‍ර (Sinhalese script)
𑩡𑩜 𑪙𑩼 (Soyombo script)
𑚏𑚊𑚶𑚤 (Takri script)
சக்ர (Tamil script)
చక్ర (Telugu script)
จกฺร (Thai script)
ཙ་ཀྲ (Tibetan script)
𑒔𑒏𑓂𑒩 (Tirhuta script)
𑨣𑨋𑩇𑨫 (Zanabazar Square script)

Pronunciation

(Vedic) IPA^(key): /t͡ɕɐk.ɾɐ́/
(Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /t͡ɕɐk.ɾɐ/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *čakrám (“wheel”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos (“wheel”). Cognate with Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬑𐬭𐬀 (caxra, “wheel”), Persian (čarx), Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos), Old English hwēol (whence English wheel).

Noun

चक्र • (cakrá) stem, n or m

a wheel (of a chariot or a potter's wheel)
- c. 1500 BCE – 1000 BCE, Ṛgveda 10.10.7:
  य॒मस्य॑ मा य॒म्यं१॒॑ काम॒ आग॑न्त् समा॒ने योनौ॑ सह॒शेय्या॑य ।
  जा॒येव॒ पत्ये॑ त॒न्वं॑ रिरिच्यां॒ वि चि॑द् वृहेव॒ रथ्ये॑व च॒क्रा ॥
  yamásya mā yamyàṃ kā́ma ā́gant samāné yónau sahaśéyyāya.
  jāyéva pátye tanvàṃ riricyāṃ ví cid vṛheva ráthyeva cakrā́.
  I, Yami, am possessed by love of Yama, that I may rest on the same couch beside him.
  I as a wife would yield me to my husband. Like wheels of a chariot let us speed to meet each other.
a discus or sharp circular missile weapon, especially that of Vishnu
(Puranic) a circle
an astronomical circle, the zodiac
a cycle, cycle of years or of seasons
a circle or depression of the body (for mystical or chiromantic purposes; 6 in number, one above the other), the fontenelle or union of the coronal and sagittal sutures
(prosody) name of a poetic metre
a troop, multitude

Declension

Neuter a-stem declension of चक्र
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	चक्रम् (cakrám)	चक्रे (cakré)	चक्राणि (cakrā́ṇi) चक्रा¹ (cakrā́¹)
accusative	चक्रम् (cakrám)	चक्रे (cakré)	चक्राणि (cakrā́ṇi) चक्रा¹ (cakrā́¹)
instrumental	चक्रेण (cakréṇa)	चक्राभ्याम् (cakrā́bhyām)	चक्रैः (cakraíḥ) चक्रेभिः¹ (cakrébhiḥ¹)
dative	चक्राय (cakrā́ya)	चक्राभ्याम् (cakrā́bhyām)	चक्रेभ्यः (cakrébhyaḥ)
ablative	चक्रात् (cakrā́t)	चक्राभ्याम् (cakrā́bhyām)	चक्रेभ्यः (cakrébhyaḥ)
genitive	चक्रस्य (cakrásya)	चक्रयोः (cakráyoḥ)	चक्राणाम् (cakrā́ṇām)
locative	चक्रे (cakré)	चक्रयोः (cakráyoḥ)	चक्रेषु (cakréṣu)
vocative	चक्र (cákra)	चक्रे (cákre)	चक्राणि (cákrāṇi) चक्रा¹ (cákrā¹)

¹Vedic

Masculine a-stem declension of चक्र
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	चक्रः (cakráḥ)	चक्रौ (cakraú) चक्रा¹ (cakrā́¹)	चक्राः (cakrā́ḥ) चक्रासः¹ (cakrā́saḥ¹)
accusative	चक्रम् (cakrám)	चक्रौ (cakraú) चक्रा¹ (cakrā́¹)	चक्रान् (cakrā́n)
instrumental	चक्रेण (cakréṇa)	चक्राभ्याम् (cakrā́bhyām)	चक्रैः (cakraíḥ) चक्रेभिः¹ (cakrébhiḥ¹)
dative	चक्राय (cakrā́ya)	चक्राभ्याम् (cakrā́bhyām)	चक्रेभ्यः (cakrébhyaḥ)
ablative	चक्रात् (cakrā́t)	चक्राभ्याम् (cakrā́bhyām)	चक्रेभ्यः (cakrébhyaḥ)
genitive	चक्रस्य (cakrásya)	चक्रयोः (cakráyoḥ)	चक्राणाम् (cakrā́ṇām)
locative	चक्रे (cakré)	चक्रयोः (cakráyoḥ)	चक्रेषु (cakréṣu)
vocative	चक्र (cákra)	चक्रौ (cákrau) चक्रा¹ (cákrā¹)	चक्राः (cákrāḥ) चक्रासः¹ (cákrāsaḥ¹)

¹Vedic

Derived terms

गणचक्र (gaṇacakra)

Descendants

Prakrit: 𑀘𑀓𑁆𑀓 (cakka)
- Eastern Indo-Aryan:
  - Bengali-Assamese:
    - Assamese: চাক (sak), চকা (soka), চাকি (saki)
    - Bengali: চাকা (caka)
    - Sylheti: ꠌꠣꠇꠣ (saxa)
  - Odia: ଚକ (caka)
- Northern Indo-Aryan:
  - Punjabi: ਚੱਕਰ (cakkar, “circle, rotation”), ਚੱਕਾ (cakkā, “wheel, rim”)
- Southern Indo-Aryan:
  - Konkani: cāk
    Devanagari script: चाक
    Kannada script: ಚಾಕ್
    Latin script: chaak
  - Old Marathi: cāka
    Devanagari script: चाक
    Modi script: 𑘓𑘰𑘎
    - Marathi: चाक (cāk)
- → Santali: ᱪᱚᱠ (côk)
Pali: cakka
- → Burmese: စက် (cak)
  - → Shan: ၸၢၵ်ႈ (tsāak)
  - → Jingpho: jak
  - → S'gaw Karen: စဲး (seḧ)
  - → Western Kayah: ꤡꤢꤧ (cae)
  - → Zaiwa: svdiq
- → Lao: ຈັກ (chak), ຈັກກະ (chak ka)
→ Bengali: চক্র (cokro)
→ English: chakra, chakram
→ Finnish: chakra
→ Gujarati: ચક્ર (cakra)
→ Hindi: चक्र (cakra), चक्कर (cakkar)
→ Kannada: ಚಕ್ರ (cakra)
→ Malay: cakera, cakra (چاکرا)
→ Malayalam: ചക്രം (cakraṁ)
→ Norwegian:
- Norwegian Bokmål: chakra
- Norwegian Nynorsk: chakra
→ Japanese: チャクラ (chakura)
→ Old Javanese: cakra
- Javanese: ꦕꦏꦿ (cakra)
- → Balinese: ᬘᬓ᭄ᬭ (cakra)
→ Old Tamil: 𑀘𑀓𑁆𑀓𑀭𑀫𑁆 (cakkaram)
- Tamil: சக்கரம் (cakkaram, “wheel”), சக்கிரம் (cakkiram)
→ Portuguese: chacra
→ Sogdian: ܨܮܪ (čaxr /⁠⁠cγr⁠/)
- → Tocharian B: cākkär
  - → Old Uyghur: 𐽽𐽰𐽷𐽶𐽾 (čakir)
→ Spanish: chakra
→ Sylheti: ꠌꠇ꠆ꠇꠞ (sokkor)
→ Tagalog: sakla
→ Telugu: చక్రము (cakramu)
→ Thai: จักร (jàk)

References

Monier Williams (1899) “चक्र”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 380, column 3.
Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992) “cakrá-”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[1] (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 521-522
Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “cakrá”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 246

Etymology 2

Verb

चक्र • (cakrá)

second-person plural active of चकार (cakā́ra)