As a Hindi name
होना
to be (used to indicate that the subject and object are the same); to be, become (to have or gain the quality of); to exist; to be born
Śabdasāgara also records: यज्ञ में होता की सहायता करनेवाला व्यक्ति । होता का सहायक
a Hindi word of Old Hindi origin; it is not Sanskrit — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- Proto-Indo-European *bʰéwHeti Proto-Indo-Iranian *bʰáwHati Sanskrit भव॑ति (bhávati) Ashokan Prakrit 𑀪𑀯𑀢𑀺 (bhavati) Ashokan Prakrit 𑀳𑁄𑀢𑀺 (hoti) Prakrit 𑀳𑁄𑀇 (hoi) Old Hindi होइ (hoi) Hindi हो (ho) Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Indo-Irania…” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
hotṛka = hotraka, &c.
Verified derivationMultiple readings (4)Why this matches what you typed
M3 · meaning shifts "hotṛka" is derived from "hotṛ" with the ṭhan/ka/kan suffix — a related word whose meaning shifts, so both meanings are shown.
hotṛ &c. See p. 1306, col. 1.
hotṛ m. (fr. √ 1. hu) an offerer of an oblation or burnt-offering (with fire), sacrificer, priest, (esp.) a priest who at a sacrifice invokes the gods or recites the Ṛg-veda, a Ṛg-veda pr˚ (one of the 4 kinds of officiating priest See ṛtvij, p. 224; properly the Hotṛ priest has 3 assistants, sometimes called Puruṣas, viz. the Maitrā-varuṇa, Acchā-vāka, and Grāvastut; to these are sometimes added three others, the Brāhmaṇācchaṃsin, Agnīdhra or Agnīdh, and Potṛ, though these last are properly assigned to the Brāhman priest; sometimes the Neṣṭṛ is substituted for the Grāva-stut), RV. &c. &c.
hotṛka m. = hotraka, ŚBr.; Lāṭy. &c.
Dictionary citations
hotṛka m. = hotraka, ŚBr.; Lāṭy. &c.
hotṛ &c. See p. 1306, col. 1.
hotṛ m. (fr. √ 1. hu) an offerer of an oblation or burnt-offering (with fire), sacrificer, priest, (esp.) a priest who at a sacrifice invokes the gods or recites the Ṛg-veda, a Ṛg-veda pr˚ (one of the 4 kinds of officiating priest See ṛtvij, p. 224; properly the Hotṛ priest has 3 assistants, sometimes called Puruṣas, viz. the Maitrā-varuṇa, Acchā-vāka, and Grāvastut; to these are sometimes added three others, the Brāhmaṇācchaṃsin, Agnīdhra or Agnīdh, and Potṛ, though these last are properly assigned to the Brāhman priest; sometimes the Neṣṭṛ is substituted for the Grāva-stut), RV. &c. &c.
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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