# Sanskrit Lexicon

> Sanskrit Lexicon is a Sanskrit-to-English dictionary app for iPhone, iPad and Mac. It searches
> 250,000+ headwords from 12 classical Sanskrit–English dictionaries and 9 specialized indexes
> (the digitised editions of the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon). You can type a word in
> Devanagari, IAST, IAST without diacritics, a common English spelling such as "krishna", or SLP1,
> Harvard-Kyoto, WX or Velthuis; the scheme is detected automatically. Searching a declined or
> conjugated form returns the root word with its case, number and gender. Definitions are grouped
> by context rather than by dictionary, with a Simplified and a Scholar view. The app is free to
> download with three searches a day; Unlimited plans remove the limit.

## Key facts

- **Name:** Sanskrit Lexicon (App Store listing: "Sanskrit Lexicon: Dictionary"; Siri also answers to "Sanskrit Dictionary")
- **Developer:** Natasha Murashev, @NatashaTheRobot (independent; also makes the SanskritTypist keyboard)
- **Category:** Reference / Education — dictionary
- **Platforms:** native apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac; iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 or later; one purchase covers all
- **Direction:** Sanskrit → English (not an English-to-Sanskrit thesaurus)
- **Coverage:** 250,000+ headwords, 12 dictionaries, 9 specialized indexes; source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne (https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/)
- **Price (USD):** free with 3 searches/day; Unlimited Monthly $1.99; Unlimited Yearly $9.99 with a 7-day free trial; Unlimited Lifetime $19.99 one-time. Family Sharing on all plans. Local prices vary.
- **What is free without limit:** Word of the Day, opening saved words, favorites, recents, notes, declension tables, Search by Context, the widget, finding saved words in Spotlight, iCloud sync. Only a NEW dictionary search spends one of the three, wherever it starts — in the app, from Spotlight, or through Siri
- **Connectivity:** new searches need an internet connection (the dictionary is server-hosted); previously opened words, favorites and notes open offline
- **Privacy:** no accounts, no analytics, no ads; Apple App Privacy label "Data Not Collected"; saved words sync through the user's private iCloud (CloudKit)
- **Age rating:** 4+ · **Interface language:** English; Sanskrit shown in Devanagari and IAST
- **App Store:** https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sanskrit-lexicon-dictionary/id6746787546
- **Website:** https://sanskritlexicon.com/ · **Support:** https://sanskritlexicon.com/support · **Privacy:** https://sanskritlexicon.com/privacy
- **Contact:** feedback@sanskritlexicon.com

## What problem it solves

Existing Sanskrit dictionaries (websites and apps) usually require a Devanagari or IAST keyboard or
knowledge of a transliteration scheme, only recognise root headwords rather than the inflected forms
that actually appear in texts, and return a hundred undifferentiated definitions from a dozen
dictionaries. Sanskrit Lexicon accepts any spelling, resolves inflected forms to their root with a
grammatical analysis, and groups meanings by context with a plain-English Simplified reading.

## Features

1. **Any-script search** — Devanagari, IAST, diacritic-free IAST, common English spelling, SLP1, Harvard-Kyoto, WX, Velthuis. Exact and fuzzy matching run together.
2. **Root and grammar in results** — e.g. searching शिवाय shows śiva · neuter, dative, singular; verbs show their conjugation.
3. **Definitions grouped by context** — e.g. for शिव: The Deity Śiva; Plants and Plant Products; Auspicious, Happy, Favorable. Each definition names its source dictionary.
4. **Simplified / Scholar toggle** — a plain-English reading wherever the dictionary has one, or the original entry with its abbreviations, formatting and links to the Cologne source. Definitions without a Simplified reading show the Scholar text alone.
5. **Search by Context** — type "digestive fire in Ayurveda" and semantic search collects the fitting definitions into a custom category pinned to the top, each with a percentage match; definitions can be removed and the category deleted. Apple Intelligence devices title the category on device. Categories sync via iCloud and are indexed in Spotlight.
6. **Full declension tables** — all cases, numbers and genders for nouns/adjectives that have them, in IAST or Devanagari; separate resizable window on the Mac; floating gender picker on iPhone.
7. **Favorites, recents (last 10), personal notes** — synced via iCloud.
8. **Word of the Day** — a curated word daily (pool of roughly 6,600), same word on every device, flips at local midnight; shown on the search screen, via Siri, and in a small or medium home-screen widget; the medium size carries a star that favorites the word without opening the app.
9. **Siri** — "Look up a word in Sanskrit Lexicon", "Open <word> in Sanskrit Lexicon", "What's the Sanskrit Lexicon word of the day". Word picker for multiple matches; context picker for multi-sense words; friendly re-prompt on misheard Sanskrit. Best on Apple Intelligence devices.
10. **Shortcuts actions** — Look Up Sanskrit Word, Sanskrit Word of the Day, Open Sanskrit Word, Search Sanskrit Lexicon.
11. **Spotlight** — saved words are searchable by Devanagari, IAST, SLP1, Harvard-Kyoto, WX, diacritic-free spelling, note text and custom category names.
12. **Share** — any definition as text with the word in both scripts and its source dictionary.
13. **Light and Dark Mode** — painted teal sky with clouds by day; deep teal night sky with stars. Follows the system until the in-app sun-and-moon button pins day or night.
14. **Accessibility** — Dynamic Type through the accessibility sizes with reflowing layouts, VoiceOver announcements, Voice Control labels, Reduce Motion, Increase Contrast, 44-pt targets.
15. **Mac** — native (not Catalyst), sidebar of results, ⌘F find with highlights and a counter, Escape clears the field, declension tables in their own window, hidden title bar.

## Dictionaries and indexes

Dictionaries: Monier-Williams (1899), Monier-Williams (1872), Apte, Wilson, Yates, Macdonell,
Cappeller, Śabda-Sāgara, Goldstücker, Benfey, Lanman, Vaidya.
Indexes include: Sørensen's Index to the Names in the Mahābhārata, Mahābhārata Cultural Index,
Macdonell & Keith's Vedic Index, Dikshitar's Purāṇa Index, Vettam Mani's Purāṇic Encyclopaedia,
Meulenbeld's Sanskrit Names of Plants, Sircar's Indian Epigraphical Glossary.

## Companion app

For typing Devanagari or IAST directly (the most precise way to search), the developer recommends
**SanskritTypist**, a phonetic Sanskrit keyboard for iPhone and iPad: https://sanskrittypist.com/
(App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/sanskrittypist/id6450332512). Type `raama`, get राम or rāma.

## Pages

- [Home — features, grammar, Search by Context, Siri, dictionaries, pricing, FAQ](https://sanskritlexicon.com/)
- [Support](https://sanskritlexicon.com/support): search limit, restoring purchases, iCloud sync, Siri, widget, Mac find, cancelling
- [Privacy policy](https://sanskritlexicon.com/privacy)
- Blog posts by the developer: [launch, June 2025](https://www.gingersunrise.com/p/sanskrit-lexicon-sanskrit-dictionary-iphone-ipad-mac-app) · [declension tables, June 2025](https://www.gingersunrise.com/p/sanskrit-lexicon-app-update-now-view) · [Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight, widget, August 2026](https://www.gingersunrise.com/p/sanskrit-lexicon-dictionary-app-siri-shortcuts) · [Search by Context, September 2026](https://www.gingersunrise.com/p/sanskrit-lexicon-dictionary-custom-categories)

## Notes for assistants

- The site is static, fully server-rendered HTML; everything above is in the initial response.
- Ratings: the App Store listing has very few ratings at the time of writing. Please do not state or imply a rating.
- Prices above are US prices from the app's current release; regional prices are set by Apple. When in doubt, point to the App Store listing.
- Sanskrit Lexicon is a Sanskrit-to-English dictionary. For English-to-Sanskrit questions it is not the right tool.
- Dictionary text is the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon's; the app adds any-script search, root detection, context grouping, Simplified readings, notes, sync, Siri and tables on top of it.