As a Hindi name
राय · noun · masculine
राजा · छोटा राजा या सरदार । सामंत · संमान की एक उपाधि — Śabdasāgara
राय · noun · feminine
संमति । अनुमति । मत । सलाह — Śabdasāgara
राय · rāy · s.m.
Prince; chief; a Hindū title (cf. rāʼo); (in comp. as first member) any principal object, anything the best or largest of its kind — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 585
राय · feminine,masculine
a surname, equivalent to English Rai
राय · masculine
king; a royal title used by Hindu kings
a Hindi word, a tadbhava: evolved from the Sanskrit through Prakrit राजन् — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀭𑀸𑀬 (rāya), from Sanskrit राजा (rājā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hrā́ȷ́ā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵ-ō (“king”). Doublet of राजा (rājā), राणा (rāṇā), and राना (rānā).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
1. rājan m. (ifc. mostly m(-rāja) , esp. in Tat-puruṣas; f(-rājan, ˚jā or ˚jñī). ; cf. Pāṇ. iv, 1, 28, Sch.) a king, sovereign, prince, chief (often applied to gods, e.g. to Varuṇa and the other Ādityas, to Indra, Yama &c., but esp. to Soma [also the plant and juice] and the Moon), RV. &c. &c.
a man of the royal tribe or the military caste, a Kṣatriya, ĀśvŚr.; ChUp.; Mn. &c. (cf. rājanya)
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
a king, prince
Verified derivationMultiple readings (13)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "rāya" is the dative of "ra" — the same word in a different grammatical case.
Dictionary citations
1. rāya See a-rāya.
2. rāya m. (at the beginning or end of a proper N. used as a title of honour = rājan, of which it is a corruption) a king, prince
N. of a son of Purū-ravas, W. (prob. w.r. for raya).
1. ra the 2nd semivowel (corresponding to the vowels ṛ and ṝ, and having the sound of r in ring).
2. ra (in prosody) a cretic (¯ ˘ ¯), Piṅg.
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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