धृ

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Etymology

    From Proto-Indo-Aryan *dʰar-, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dʰar-, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (to hold, support).

    Pronunciation

    Root

    धृ • (dhṛ)

    1. to hold
      • c. 1500 BCE – 1000 BCE, Ṛgveda 10.121.1:
        हि॒र॒ण्य॒ग॒र्भः सम॑वर्त॒ताग्रे॑ भू॒तस्य॑ जा॒तः पति॒रेक॑ आसीत् ।
        दा॑धार पृथि॒वीं द्यामु॒तेमां कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥
        hiraṇyagarbháḥ sámavartatā́gre bhūtásya jātáḥ pátiréka āsīt.
        dādhāra pṛthivī́ṃ dyā́mutémā́ṃ kásmai devā́ya havíṣā vidhema.
        Hiraṇyagarbha was present at the beginning; when born, he was the sole lord of created beings;
        he upheld this earth and heaven-- let us offer worship with an oblation to the divine.

    Usage notes

    The (morphological) causative धारयति (dhāráyati) is in practice used as the main present verb.

    Derived terms

    Sanskrit terms belonging to the root धृ (0 c, 18 e)
    Terms derived from the Sanskrit root धृ (14 c, 0 e)
    Primary Verbal Forms
    Secondary Forms
    • ध्रियते (dhriyáte) (Passive)
    • अधारि (ádhāri) (Passive Aorist)
    • धारयति (dhāráyati) (Causative)
    • अदीधरत् (ádīdharat) (Causative Aorist)
    • धार्यते (dhāryáte) (Passive of Causative)
    • दिधीर्षति (didhīrṣati) (Desiderative)
    • दिधारयिषति (didhārayiṣati) (Desiderative of Causative)
    • दर्धर्ति (dárdharti) (Intensive)
    Non-Finite Forms
    • धृत (dhṛtá) (Past Participle)
    • धर्तुम् (dhartum) (Infinitive)
    • धर्तवै (dhartavai) (Infinitive)
    • धर्तरि (dhartári) (Infinitive)
    • धृत्वा (dhṛtvā́) (Gerund)
    • धर्तव्य (dhartavya) (Gerundive)
    • धार्य (dhārya) (Gerundive)
    • धरणीय (dharaṇī́ya) (Gerundive)
    • धारित (dhārita) (Causative Past Participle)
    • धारयितव्य (dhārayitavya) (Causative Gerundive)
    Derived Nominal Forms
    Prefixed Root Forms
    • अभिधृ (abhidhṛ)
    • अवधृ (avadhṛ)
    • आधृ (ādhṛ)
    • उद्धृ (uddhṛ)
    • उपधृ (upadhṛ)
    • निधृ (nidhṛ)
    • परिधृ (paridhṛ)
    • प्रधृ (pradhṛ)
    • विधृ (vidhṛ)
    • संधृ (saṃdhṛ)

    References

    • Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2025) “dhṛ”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.
    • Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992) “DHAR”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎[1] (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 778-9
    • Lubotsky, Alexander (2011) “dhar”, in The Indo-Aryan Inherited Lexicon (in progress) (Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Project), Leiden University, pages 156-7