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Wilson, A Dictionary in Sanscrit and English (WIL)

WIL is Horace Hayman Wilson's A Dictionary in Sanscrit and English (2nd edition, 1832) — the first major Sanskrit→English dictionary, and the historical foundation on which Monier-Williams was later built (Wilson held the Boden chair at Oxford before Monier-Williams). It is concise, gives etymologies, and reads in plain (19th-century) English.

At a glance​

CodeWIL (GitHub repo WIL)
Full titleA Dictionary in Sanscrit and English (2nd ed.)
AuthorHorace Hayman Wilson
Year / size1832 · ~982 pages
DirectionSanskrit → English
AccentsNo
Sourcecsl-orig/v02/wil/
OpenBasic · List · Advanced · Mobile
DataDownloads · Scans
csl-docwil.rst (front matter)

When to use it​

Reach for WIL for the historical Sanskrit lexicon — the meanings and etymologies as the earliest English-language tradition recorded them. For modern coverage prefer:

It is valuable for tracing how a sense or derivation was understood in the 1830s, and as the common ancestor behind much later English lexicography.

Looking up a word​

Open the Basic display, choose your input/output transliteration (see Encoding & Transliteration), and type the headword. The List and Advanced displays browse the index and search inside entries — see Search & Display.

Reading an entry​

Wilson sets the Sanskrit in {#…#} (bold), tags the grammar with <lex> and abbreviations with <ab>, numbers the senses, and closes many entries with an E. etymology (root + affix). The entry aṃśa (csl-orig/v02/wil/wil.txt):

<L>6<pc>001<k1>aMSa<k2>aMSa
{#aMSa#}¦
<lex>m.</lex> ({#-SaH#})
.²1 A share or portion.
.²2 A part.
.²3 A shoulder, the shoulder blade.
.²4 (In arithmetic) a fraction.
.²5 The numerator of a fraction.
.²6 A degree of latitude or longitude, <ab>&c.</ab> See {#aMsa#}.
<ab>E.</ab>
{#aMSa#} to divide, {#ac#} affix.
In the sourceMeaning
<pc>001page reference (p. 1 — WIL cites the page only, no column)
{#aMSa#}the headword (bold Sanskrit; search key <k1> is SLP1)
<lex>m.</lex>grammatical category — masculine
({#-SaH#})the nominative form (aṃśaḥ)
.²1 … .²6the numbered senses (English glosses)
<ab>E.</ab>the etymology note that follows — here from aṃśa "to divide" + the affix ac

See Data Formats for the markup reference.

What makes it distinctive​

  • The first major Sanskrit-English dictionary. Wilson's (1819 / 1832) is where the English lexical tradition begins — the ground Monier-Williams later built on.
  • Etymologies. Many entries end with an E. note giving the root and affix.
  • Historical lens. Senses and derivations as understood in the early 19th century.

See also​