कथाkathā

कथा (kathā) is a Sanskrit word meaning conversation, speech, or talking together, talk, mention, what should one say of, story, tale, or fable, a feigned story or tale, Story personified. Its 39 recorded definitions are grouped into 12 contexts, among them Story, Tale, Fable, Narration, Interrogative Adverb/Particle, Comprehensive Noun Definitions.

Meanings by context

Story, Tale, Fable, Narration

8 definitions
story, tale, or fable

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

A tale or story

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A fable or feigned story

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A feigned story, tale, or fable.

Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A word, tale, or story.

Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A feigned story, tale, or fable.

Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. A tale. 2. A speech or discourse. 3. Mention.

Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Story, tale, fable, or discussion. 2. Personified Story.

Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary

Interrogative Adverb/Particle

7 definitions
1. How? 2. Whence? 3. Why?

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

in any way whatsoever

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

a particle of interrogation

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

how, whence, or why

Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary

how? in what way? whence?

Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

see katham

Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary

How, whence, or why

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)

Comprehensive Noun Definitions

4 definitions
1. Conversation, talk, or discussion. 2. A story or tale. 3. Mention or statement.

Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Mention or allusion. 2. Conversation. 3. A tale or account. 4. A fable. 5. A type of prose composition.

Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Talk, conversation. 2. Tale, story. 3. Communication, mention, statement. 4. Discussion, dialogue.

Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Conversation, speech, or talk. 2. A tale, fable, or feigned story. 3. Mention. 4. Disputation.

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)

Derived Terms: Forms & Structure of Narratives/Conversations

4 definitions
1. A specific type of theatrical introduction where a character enters after overhearing and repeating the words or meaning of the stage manager. 2. The commencement of a tale or narration.

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

An incidental story or conversation.

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. The guise of a fable. 2. Giving a false account.

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. The introductory part of a tale or story. 2. The first book of the Kathasaritsagara.

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Derived Terms: Roles, Qualities, & States

3 definitions
the hero or leading character of a story

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Talkative and foolish. 2. Mad or foolish.

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

see kathavashesha

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Disputation, Philosophical Discussion

3 definitions
discussion, disputation

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Disputation

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

A philosophical discussion

The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects

Talk, Conversation, Speech

3 definitions
Conversation, speech, or talking together

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Talk, conversation, speech

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. Conversation or topic of discussion. 2. A curer of poisons.

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Literary Genre (Prose Composition)

2 definitions
a feigned story or tale

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

A prose composition.

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Mention, Account, Statement

2 definitions
talk, mention

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

An account, allusion, or mention

Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Idiom: 'kā kathā'

1 definition
what should one say of

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Personified Story

1 definition
Story personified

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Specific Named Kathās or Contextual Uses

1 definition
of Kama and Kesava to be narrated in Madanadvadasivrata

The Purana Index

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Definitions on this page come from 13 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), Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary, The Purana Index, The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon.