Note: the Hindi and Sanskrit paths disagree here — the Sanskrit dictionary reading is negative (“death”) while the Hindi reading is not. Both are shown below; read them together before choosing.
As a Hindi name
Note: the Hindi and Sanskrit paths disagree here — the Sanskrit dictionary reading is negative (“death”) while the Hindi reading is not. Both are shown below; read them together before choosing.
प्रायः
usually, normally; nearly
प्राय
Śabdasāgara also records: जिस तक पहुँचा जा सके । प्राप्य
Platts (p. 237) also records: Going away, departure; departure from life
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi प्रायः — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Learned borrowing from Sanskrit प्रायः (prāyaḥ, “mostly, commonly”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pélh₁us, see also Latin plūs, Ancient Greek πολύς (polús).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
prāyaḥ [pra-ay ghañ, i-ac vā] 1 Going away, departure, departure from life. 2 Seeking death by fasting, fasting, sitting down and abstaining from food with some object in view (generally with words like ās, upaviś &c.); see prāyopaveśana below. 3 The largest portion, majority, plurality; majority of cases. 4 Excess, abundance, plenty. 5 A condition of life. N. B. At the end of comp. prāya may be translated by (a) for the most part, generally, mostly, almost, nearly; patanaprāyau ‘about to fall;’ mṛtaprāyaḥ ‘almost dead, a little less than dead, nearly dead’; or (b) abounding or rich in, full of, excessive, abundant; kaṣṭaprāyaṃ śarīraṃ U. 1; śāliprāyo deśaḥ Pt. 3; kamalāmodaprāyā vanānilāḥ U. 3. 24 ‘full of the fragrance’ &c., or (c) like, resembling; varṣaśataprāyaṃ dinaṃ, amṛtaprāyaṃ vacanaṃ &c. Comp. — upagamanaṃ, — upaveśaḥ, -upaveśanaṃ, -upaveśanikā sitting down and abstaining from food and thus preparing oneself for death, fasting oneself to death; mayā prāyopaveśanaṃ kṛtaṃ viddhi Pt. 4; prāyopaveśanamatirnṛpatirbabhūva R. 8. 94; prāyopaveśasadṛśaṃ vratamāsthitasya Ve. 3. 10. — upeta a. abstaining from food and thus awaiting the approach of death. — upaviṣṭa, -upaveśin a. fasting oneself to death, who sits without food at the door of another to exact compliance with his demands. — darśanaṃ an ordinary phenomenon. — bhava a. common, usually met with.
a Hindi word; it is not Sanskrit
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
going forth, starting (for a battle)
Verified derivationMultiple readings (18)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "prāya" is the dative of "pra" — the same word in a different grammatical case.
Dictionary citations
prāya m. (fr. pra + aya; √ 5. i) going forth, starting (for a battle), RV. ii, 18, 8
course, race, AV. iv, 25, 2
departure from life, seeking death by fasting (as a religious or penitentiary act, or to enforce compliance with a demand; acc. with √ ās, upa-√ ās, upa-√ viś, upa-√ i, ā-√ sthā, sam-ā-√ sthā, or √ kṛ, to renounce life, sit down and fast to death; with Caus. of √ kṛ, to force any one [acc.] to seek death through starvation), MBh.; Kāv. &c.
anything prominent, chief part, largest portion, plenty, majority, general rule (often ifc., with f(ā). = chiefly consisting of or destined for or furnished with, rich or abounding in, frequently practising or applying or using; near, like, resembling; mostly, well-nigh, almost, as it were; cf. ārya-, jita-, jñāti-, tṛṇa-, daṇḍa-, duḥkha-, siddhi-pr˚ &c.; also -tā f.), ŚBr.; Lāṭy.; Mn.; MBh. &c.
a stage of life, age, L.
1. pra ind. before
forward, in front, on, forth (mostly in connection with a verb, esp. with a verb of motion which is often to be supplied; sometimes repeated before the verb, cf. Pāṇ. viii, 1, 6; rarely as a separate word, e.g. AitBr. ii, 40)
Alternative readings
More than one analysis survives full verification. That ambiguity is real, so we show every reading rather than pick one silently.
Caveats
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