As a deity name
Name 483 of the Durga Sahasranāma — Kula Arnava Tantra / Skanda Purana, as taught by Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvati
As a Hindi name
प्रेता · noun · feminine
स्त्री प्रेत । पिशाची · भगवती कात्यायिनी का एक नाम — Śabdasāgara
Cited formation "प्रेता" is प्रेत + -आ: प्रेत means "the spirit of a dead person", and the suffix -आ forms abstract, agent, action or instrumental nouns (masc.); also past participles. CHD Basic Grammar App. I §8(3) — cited from the extracted rule table
Cited formation "प्रेता" is प्रेत + -आ: प्रेत means "the spirit of a dead person", and the suffix -आ forms 'having' (adjectives). CHD Basic Grammar App. I §9(1) — cited from the extracted rule table
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
departed, deceased, dead, a dead person — feminine form of preta
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (6)Why this matches what you typed
M1 · same meaning "pretā" is the feminine form of "preta" — the same word with the feminine ending (nominative).
M1 · same meaning "pretā" is the nominative of "pretṛ" — the same word in a different grammatical case, derived from the stem's own paradigm.
Related forms
Dictionary citations
preta mfn. departed, deceased, dead, a dead person, ŚBr.; GṛŚrS.; MBh.
preta m. the spirit of a dead person (esp. before obsequial rites are performed), a ghost, an evil being, Mn.; MBh. &c. (cf. RTL. 241, 271; MWB. 219).
pretṛ mfn. a lover, cherisher, benefactor, RV.; ŚāṅkhŚr.
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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