आर्यārya

आर्य (ārya) is a Sanskrit word meaning a respectable or honorable man, an inhabitant of Aryavarta, one who is faithful to the religion of his country, an Aryan, a member of the first three social castes, a respectable or honourable man. Its 62 recorded definitions are grouped into 10 contexts, among them Noble Qualities and Conduct, The Āryan People: Ethnic and Cultural Identity, Social Roles and Relationships.

Root: ऋ (ṛ)
Definitions: 62

View Declension Tables , 48 forms

Meanings by context

Noble Qualities and Conduct

24 definitions

1. A respectable or honorable man. 2. An inhabitant of Aryavarta.

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

one who is faithful to the religion of his country

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

a respectable or honourable man

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

honourable, noble, and worthy of an Aryan

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

of a good family

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

excellent

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

wise

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

suitable

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Worthy of an Arya

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Worthy, venerable, respectable, honourable, or noble

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Noble, fine, excellent

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A man who is faithful to the religion and laws of his country

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A respectable or honorable man

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A man of noble birth

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A man of noble character

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A respectable woman.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

respectable, worthy, distinguished

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. A gentleman or man of consequence. 2. Respectable men or an assembly of honorable men in the plural. 3. A respectful address meaning your reverence or honor.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

virtuous, good, pious

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

the conduct of an Aryan or nobleman

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

observing the laws and ordinances of the Aryans or noblemen

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

the duty of an Aryan

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

a noble or honourable man

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Noble, highly respectable

— Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary

The Āryan People: Ethnic and Cultural Identity

13 definitions

An Aryan

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Aryan, favourable to the Aryan people

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Aryan

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

An Aryan, a member of the ancient Hindu and Iranian peoples.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Belonging to the faithful or of one's own tribe. 2. Honourable or noble. 3. An Aryan or man of the first three castes. 4. A man of worth. 5. Sir or friend when used in the vocative.

— Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. A member of the Aryan people. 2. A member of the first three Hindu castes. 3. A master. 4. A preceptor. 5. A friend. 6. A father-in-law. 7. A man faithful to his country's religion and customary law. 8. A man of high birth. 9. A person of noble and respectable character. 10. An honorific title used in drama.

— Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. A member of the ancient immigrant Indian people or the three upper castes. 2. Respectable, venerable, or apposite.

— Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Belonging to one's own race, Aryan, noble, or honorable. 2. An honorable person, especially of the first three castes, or a senior relative such as a grandfather, great-grandfather, or elder brother. 3. A mother or an elder brother's wife. 4. A term of reverential address meaning your honor. 5. A particular poetic metre.

— Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. An Aryan, a man of one's own tribe or the Vedic Indian tribes. 2. Noble. 3. Reverend.

— Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary

1. A loyal or respectable person, a member of the Hindu and Iranian peoples, or of the first three castes. 2. A master, owner, friend, or Vaisya. 3. Buddha, or a follower of the four chief principles of Buddhism. 4. An honorable, noble, excellent, or wise person. 5. A name of Parvati. 6. A specific poetic meter.

आर्य (ārya) [Printed book page 0129-b]
आर्य (ārya) ārya, as, ā, m. f. (fr. arya, rt. ṛ), a

loyal or faithful man, a man of one's own race; one

who is faithful to the deities of his country; N. of

the Hindū and Iranian people (opposed to an-ārya,

dasyu, dāsa); in later times N. of the first three

castes (opposed to śūdra); a man highly esteemed,

a respectable, honourable man; a master, an owner; a

friend; a Vaiśya; Buddha; (with Buddhists) a man who

has thought on the four chief principles of Buddhism

and lives according to them; a son of Manu Sāvarṇa;
Page0129-c+ 79

(as, ā, or ī, am), Āryan, favourable to the Āryan

people; behaving like an Āryan, worthy of one,

honourable, respectable, noble; of a good family;

excellent; wise; suitable; (ā), f. a name of Pārvatī;

a kind of metre of two lines, each, line consisting of

seven and a half feet; each foot containing four in-

stants, except the sixth of the second line, which con-

tains only one, and is therefore a single short syllable;

hence there are thirty instants in the first line and

twenty-seven in the second; [with ārya cf. the Old

Germ. êra and Mod. Germ. Ehre.] —Ārya-gṛhya,

as, ā, am, easily to be got by honourable men, to

be received with honour by noble men; decorous,

respectable, right. —Ārya-tā, f. or ārya-tva, am, n.

honourable behaviour. —Ārya-deva, as, m., N. of a

pupil of Nāgārjuna. —Ārya-deśa, as, m. a region

inhabited by Āryans or followers of the Āryan laws.

—Āryadeśya, as, ā, am, originating from such a

region. —Ārya-putra, as, m. son of an Āryan or

honourable man; the son of a spiritual preceptor;

honorific designation of the son of an elder brother;

of a husband by his wife; of a prince by a general;

a husband (in theatrical language). —Ārya-prāya,

as, ā, am, inhabited by Āryan people; abound-

ing with respectable persons. —Ārya-bhaṭṭa, as,

m., N. of a renowned astronomer, the inventor of

algebra, among the Hindūs. —Ārya-bhāva, as,

m. honourable character or behaviour. —Ārya-

mārga, as, m. the way of the honourable, the

respectable way. —Ārya-miśra, ās, m. pl. an as-

sembly of respectable or honourable men; (as, ā,

am), distinguished, respectable; (as), m. a gentleman,

a man of consequence. —Ārya-yuvan, ā, m. an Āryan

youth. —Ārya-rāja, as, m., N. of a king. —Ārya-

rūpa, as, ā, am, one who has only the form of an

Āryan; a hypocrite, an impostor. —Āryaliṅgin, ī, inī,

i, one who bears the external semblance of an Āryan

or honourable man, an impostor. —Ārya-varman, ā,

m., N. of a king. —Ārya-vṛtta, am, n. the behaviour

of an Āryan or noble man; (as, ā, am), behaving

like an Āryan; virtuous, good, pious. —Ārya-veśa,

as, ā, am, dressed like an Āryan, well clothed, fine.

—Ārya-vrata, as, ā, am, one who observes the

laws and ordinances of the Āryans or honourable men.

—Ārya-saṅgha, as, m. the whole body of the

Āryans, the collective body of noblemen; N. of a

renowned philosopher, founder of the school of the

Yogākāras. —Ārya-satya, am, n. a noble or sublime

truth; four such truths form the four chief principles

of Buddhism. —Ārya-siṃha, as, m., N. of a Buddhist

patriarch. —Ārya-hṛdya, as, ā, am, beloved by the

noble. —Āryā-gīti, is, f. a variety of the Āryā metre,

containing eight equal feet or thirty-two syllabic in-

stants in each verse of the couplet. —Āryāvarta (°ya-

āv°), as, m. abode of the noble or excellent; the

sacred land or place of residence of the Āryans; N.

of the land extending from the eastern to the western

sea, and bounded on the north and south by the

Himālaya and Vindhya mountains. —Āryā-vilāsa,

as, m. title of a work. —Āryāṣṭaśata (°ya-aṣṭa-

śa°), am, n. title of a work of Ārya-bhaṭṭa's, consisting

of eight hundred distichs. [ID=9216]

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)

opposite of Mleccha

— The Purana Index

A collective name for the sons of Angiras.

— The Purana Index

A member of the three upper Vedic classes, specifically the Brahmana, Kshatriya, or Vaishya.

आर्य (ārya) [Printed book page 1-064]
Ārya is the normal designation in the Vedic literature from

the Rigveda¹ onwards of an Āryan, a member of the three

upper classes, Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, or Vaiśya, as the formal

division is given in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa.² The Ārya

stands in opposition to the Dāsa,³ but also to the Śūdra.

Sometimes⁴ the expression is restricted to the Vaiśya caste,
Page1-065+ 56

the Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya receiving special designations;

but this use is not common, and it is often uncertain also

whether Arya is not meant. The phrase Śūdrāryau⁵ is espe-

cially ambiguous, but appears to have denoted originally the

Śūdra and the Āryan, for in the Mahāvrata ceremony the fight

between a Śūdra and an Ārya is represented in the Taittirīya

Brāhmaṇa as one between a Brāhmaṇa and a Śūdra, though

the Sūtra treats it as a fight between a Vaiśya and a Śūdra.

The word Ārya (fem. Āryā or Ārī) also occurs frequently

used as an adjective to describe the Āryan classes (viśaḥ),⁶ or

name (nāman),⁷ or caste (varṇa),⁸ or dwellings (dhāman);⁹ or

again reference is made to the Āryan supremacy (vrata)¹⁰ being

extended over the land. Āryan foes (vṛtra)¹¹ are referred to

beside Dāsa foes, and there are many¹² references to war

of Āryan versus Āryan, as well as to war of Āryan against

Dāsa. From this it can be fairly deduced that even by the

time of the Rigveda the Āryan communities had advanced

far beyond the stage of simple conquest of the aborigines. In

the later Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas the wars alluded to seem

mainly Āryan wars, no doubt in consequence of the fusion of

Ārya and Dāsa into one community.

Weber¹³ considers that the five peoples known to the Rigveda

were the Āryans and the four peoples of the quarters (diś)

of the earth, but this is doubtful. Āryan speech (vāc)¹⁴

is specially referred to in the Aitareya and Śāṅkhāyana

Āraṇyakas.
[Footnote: 1) Rv. i. 51, 8; 130, 8; 156, 5, etc.]

[Footnote: 2) iv. 1, 6 (Kāṇva recension).]

[Footnote: 3) Rv. i. 51, 8. 9; 103, 3; vi. 20, 10;

25, 2, 3, etc. (opposed to Dāsa); Av.

iv. 20, 4. 8; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, iv. 6,

6; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xiv. 30, etc.

(opposed to Sūdra).]

[Footnote: 4) Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 205, 215,

finds this use — understanding Ārya as

meant — in Atharvaveda, xix. 32, 8, and

62, 1, as well as in passages where

Śūdrāryau is found. Lanman, in

Whitney's Translation of the Athar-

vaveda, 948, 1003, quotes his view with

approval; but Whitney's version leaves

no doubt that he read and understood

the text as Ārya, the Āryan, not the

Vaiśya. For Whitney's view, Av. iv. 20,

4. 8 may be cited; and so Roth, St.

Petersburg Dictionary, s.v., takes the

passages. In Taittirīya Saṃhitā, iv. 3,

10, 8, Śūdrāryau must mean Sūdra and

Vaiśya; but the Padapāṭha takes it as

Arya, and so does Zimmer.]

[Footnote: 5) See Taittirīya Saṃhitā, vii. 5, 9, 3,

with Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra, xiii. 3,

7. 8; Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā, xxxiv. 5;

Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa, v. 5, 17; Tait-

tirīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 2, 6, 7; Lāṭyāyana

Sūtra, iv. 2, 5; Śāṅkhāyana Śrauta

Sūtra, xvii. 6, 2; Anupada Sūtra, vii. 10.]

[Footnote: 6) Rv. i. 77, 3; 96, 31; x. 11, 4;

43, 4, etc.]

[Footnote: 7) Rv. x; 49, 3.]

[Footnote: 8) Rv. iii. 34, 9. Cf. Varṇa.]

[Footnote: 9) Rv. ix. 63, 14.]

[Footnote: 10) Rv. x. 65, 11. So Agni and Indra

are styled Āryan, as supporters of the

Āryan people (Rv. vi. 60, 6).]

[Footnote: 11) Rv. vi. 33, 3; vii. 83, 1; x.

69, 6.]

[Footnote: 12) Rv. i. 102, 5; iii. 32, 14; vi. 22,

10; 25, 2. 3; viii. 2, 4. 27; x. 38, 3;

83, 1; 102, 3, etc.]

[Footnote: 13) Indische Studien, 17, 288. Cf. Roth,

St. Petersburg Dictionary, s.v. kṛṣṭi,

and Pañca Janāsaḥ.]

[Footnote: 14) Aitareya Āraṇyaka, iii. 2, 5;

Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka, viii. 9. Cf.

Keith, Aitareya Āraṇyaka, 196, 255;

and Vāc.

Cf. Ludwig, Translation of the Rig-

veda, 3, 207 et seq.; Zimmer, Altin-

disches Leben, 214 et seq.]
[ID=265]

— The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects

Proper Names (Individuals, Deities, Works)

5 definitions

a son of Manu Savarna

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

a name of Parvati

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

a name of a stotra

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

A son of Manu Savarna.

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Name of Parvati

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Religious Adherence: Buddhist and Jain Contexts

4 definitions

Buddha

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

a person who practices the four chief truths of Buddhism, or a Buddhist priest

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

A Buddha

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A follower of Buddhism who lives according to its four chief principles

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Poetic Metre (Āryā Metre)

2 definitions

a kind of metre of two lines

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Name of a metre

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Cross-Reference

1 definition

See Malya.

— The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects

Linguistic Origin and Cognates

1 definition

Not found

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Specific Adverbial Meaning

1 definition

forcibly

— Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

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Definitions on this page come from 10 works: Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary, Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872), Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899), The Purana Index, The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon.

आर्यārya

Meanings by context

Noble Qualities and Conduct

The Āryan People: Ethnic and Cultural Identity

Social Roles and Relationships

Proper Names (Individuals, Deities, Works)

Religious Adherence: Buddhist and Jain Contexts

Social Hierarchy: Caste and Class

Poetic Metre (Āryā Metre)

Cross-Reference

Linguistic Origin and Cognates

Specific Adverbial Meaning

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