the second vowel of the alphabet corresponding to the a in far.
ind. a particle of reminiscence, [Pāṇ. i, 1, 14]; [Pat.]
also of compassion or pain [more correctly written 1. ās, q.v.], and of assent, [L.] [This particle remains unaltered in orthography even before vowels (which causes it to be sometimes confounded with 1. ās), [Pāṇ. i, 1, 14.]]
m. N. of Śiva, [L.]
grandfather, [L.]
f. N. of Lakṣmī, [L.]
ā́ (as a prefix to verbs, especially of motion, and their derivatives) near, near to, towards (see ā-√ kram &c.; in the Veda, of course, the prefix is separable from the verb; in a few cases, [RV. i, 10, 11] and [v, 64, 5], a verb in the imperative is to be supplied; with roots like gam, yā, and i, ‘to go’, and 1. dā, ‘to give’, it reverses the action; e.g. ā-gacchati, ‘he comes’; ā-datte, ‘he takes’). (As a prep. with a preceding acc.) near to, towards, to, [RV.]
(with a preceding noun in the acc., as jóṣam or váram) for, [RV.]
(with a following acc.) up to … exclusively, [AitBr.]
(with a preceding abl.) from, [RV.]; [AV.]
out of, from among (e.g. bahúbhya ā́, ‘from among many’), [RV.]
towards (only in asmád ā́, ‘towards us’), [RV.]
(with a following abl. cf. [Pāṇ. ii, 1, 13] & [3, 10]) up to, to, as far as, [RV.]; [AV.] &c.
from, [RV. i, 30, 21]
(with a preceding loc.) in, at, on [RV.]; [AV.] (As an adv. after words expressing a number or degree) fully, really, indeed (e.g. trír ā́ divás, ‘quite or fully three times a day’; mahimā́ vām índrāgnī pániṣṭha ā́,, ‘your greatness, O Indra and Agni, is most praiseworthy indeed’, &c.), [RV.]
(after a subst. or adj.) ‘as, like’, (or it simply strengthens the sense of the preceding word), [RV.], (after a verb), [RV. v, 7, 7]; [KenaUp.]
(as a conjunctive particle) moreover, further, and (it is placed either between the two words connected [rarely after the second, [RV. x, 16, 11], or after both, [RV. x, 92, 8]] or, if there are more, after the last [[RV. iv, 57, 1] and [x, 75, 5]]; see also ātaś ca s.v.) In classical Sanskṛt it may denote the limit ‘to’, ‘until’, ‘as far as’, ‘from’, either not including the object named or including it (sometimes with acc. or abl. or forming an adv.) e.g. ā-maraṇam or ā-maraṇāt, ‘till death’, [Pañcat.] (cf. ā-maraṇānta &c.)
ā-gopālā dvijātayaḥ, ‘the twice-born including the cowherds’, [MBh. ii, 531]
ā-samudram or ā-samudrāt, ‘as far as the ocean’ or ‘from the ocean’ (but not including it)
ā-kumāram, ‘from a child’ or ‘from childhood’ or ‘to a child’ (cf. Lat. a puero), [MBh. iii, 1403]
ā-kumāram yaśaḥ pāṇineḥ, ‘the fame of Pāṇini extends even to children’
ā́ ājānu-bāhu mfn. ‘one whose arms reach down to the knees’, [R. i, 1, 12]
ā́ (see also ākarṇa- and ājanma-)
ā́ (cf. ā-jarasám, ā-vyuṣám, ā-saptama, otsūryám.) Prefixed to adj. [rarely to subst.; cf. ā-kopa] it implies diminution, [Pāṇ. ii, 2, 18] Comm. ‘a little’ e.g. ā-piñjara mfn. a little red, reddish, [Ragh. xvi, 51]
ā́ (see also ā-pakva, oṣṇa, &c.) Some commentaries (e.g. Comm. on [Ragh. iii, 8]) occasionally give to in this application the meaning samantāt, ‘all through, completely’, as ā-nīla, ‘blue all round’.