Grassmann, Wörterbuch zum Rig-Veda (GRA)
Hermann Grassmann's Wörterbuch zum Rig-Veda (1873) is a complete dictionary-concordance to the Ṛg-Veda: it aims to account for every word occurrence in the saṃhitā, arranges derivatives under their roots, and is explicitly etymological. It is the reference for Vedic vocabulary as used in the RV. Glosses are in German.
At a glance
| Code | GRA (GitHub repo GRA) |
| Full title | Wörterbuch zum Rig-Veda |
| Author | Hermann Grassmann |
| Year / size | 1873 · ~1775 columns |
| Direction | Sanskrit (Ṛg-Vedic) → German |
| Accents | Yes — Vedic accents are central |
| Source | csl-orig/v02/gra/ |
| Open | Basic · List · Advanced · Mobile |
| Data | Downloads · Scans |
| csl-doc | gra.rst (front matter / preface) |
When to use it
Reach for Grassmann when you are reading the Ṛg-Veda and want every attested form located and explained, with the etymological grouping under roots that a general dictionary flattens. Complements:
- Monier-Williams (MW) marks Vedic accents too, but is general; GRA is RV-specific and exhaustive for it.
- Böhtlingk-Roth (PWG) for the broader classical-and-Vedic record (German).
Looking up a word
Open the Basic display, choose input/output transliteration, and type the headword:
See Search & Display for the List and Advanced modes.
Reading an entry
Grassmann marks homonyms with <hom>, bold headwords with {@…@}, grammatical person with
<per>, and Ṛg-Veda passages with <ls>. Two short cross-reference entries for the pronoun
a (csl-orig/v02/gra/gra.txt):
<L>2<pc>0001<k1>a<k2>a<h>2
<hom>2.</hom> {@(a).@}¦ Deutestamm der <per n="1sten/ersten">1.</per> Person, siehe unter ahám.
<LEND>
<L>3<pc>0001<k1>a<k2>a<h>3
<hom>3.</hom> {@(a-)@}¦ siehe unter an-.
<LEND>
| In the source | Meaning |
|---|---|
<hom>2.</hom> | homonym label (Grassmann distinguishes many) |
{@(a).@} | the headword, set bold |
<per n="1sten/ersten">1.</per> | grammatical person |
siehe unter ahám | a cross-reference (entries are grouped etymologically) |
See Data Formats for the full markup reference.
What makes it distinctive
- A concordance, not just a dictionary. It locates every RV occurrence of a word.
- Root-based, etymological arrangement. Derivatives sit under their roots.
- Recently re-digitized. A 2023 revision incorporated a corrected digitization (Thomas Malten) and an alternate display — see the news post Grassmann revision.
Headword key conventions
<k1> = <k2> = SLP1 accent-stripped stem; Vedic accents appear in the entry body (in {@…@} or running text), not in the key. Entries are organized etymologically under roots, so derivatives may appear under a root entry rather than at their own alphabetical slot.
| Convention | Marker / form | Example | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search key | SLP1, accent-stripped | a | k1 = k2; never type an accent to search |
| Homonyms | <hom>N.</hom> tag | <hom>2.</hom> | Grassmann distinguishes many homonyms with a numbered label |
| Root-based arrangement | Derivatives under their root entry | ā-dhā, ni-dhā under DA | Look up the simple root, then browse derivatives |
| Bold headword | {@(word).@} in entry body | {@(a).@} | The actual headword, bold in print; accent shown here, not in <k1> |
| Page reference | <pc>col (4-digit column) | <pc>0001 = col. 1 of the 1873 print | GRA cites columns, not pages |
Abbreviations
Grammatical & general 341
Show first 60 of 341 abbreviations
| 1. | 1sten/ersten |
| 2. | 2ten/zweiten |
| 3. | 3ten/dritten |
| a. | adjektiv |
| A. | Accusativ |
| Ab. | Ablativ |
| Abl. | Ablativ |
| abl. | ablativ |
| Abs. | Absolutiv |
| Absol. | Absolutiv |
| Absolut. | Absolutiv |
| Abstr. | Abstractiv |
| Acc. | Accusativ |
| Accus. | Accusativ |
| Act. | Activ |
| act. | activ |
| Adj. | Adjektiv |
| adj. | adjektiv |
| adject. | adjectiv |
| Adject. | Adjectiv |
| Adjekt. | Adjektiv |
| Adv. | Adverb |
| adv. | adverb |
| adverb. | adverb |
| ags. | Anglo-Saxon |
| ahd. | Old High German |
| Ait. | Aiton |
| altfries. | Old Frisian |
| althd. | Old High German |
| althochd. | Old High German |
| altlat. | Old Latin |
| altn. | Old Icelandic |
| altnord. | Old Icelandic |
| altpreuss. | Old Prussian |
| alts. | Old Slavonic |
| altsl. | Old Slavonic |
| altslav. | Old Slavonic |
| altslaw. | Old Slavonic |
| altslov. | Old Slovene |
| altsächs. | Old Saxon |
| and. | anders |
| angels. | Anglo-Saxon |
| Anm. | Anmerkung |
| antreff. | antreffen |
| Aor. | Aorist |
| armen. | Armenian |
| Augm. | Augment |
| Bd. | Bedeutung |
| Bed. | Bedeutung |
| bes. | besonders |
| Bharadv. | Bharadvāja |
| bildl. | bildlich |
| Brahmanasp. | Brahmanaspati |
| böhm. | Bohemian |
| bṛ́hasp. | bṛ́haspátim |
| c. | causativ |
| C. | Causativ |
| Caus. | Causativ |
| caus. | causativ |
| causal. | causale |
+ 281 more — see the full list in the source file
See also
- Monier-Williams (MW) and Böhtlingk-Roth (PWG)
- The full catalog of all 43 dictionaries
- Abbreviations & Citations — how to cite Grassmann
- csl-doc gra.rst