A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary: With Transliteration, Accentuation and Etymological Analysis Throughout - Hardcover

Macdonell, A. A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198643039 ISBN 13: 9780198643036

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 1963

Synopsis

A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary is an authoritative resource for learners and scholars alike. Each entry includes a transliteration for easier understanding, etymological information on the root and derivatives, and an indication of the rarity of the word and the literary period to which it belongs.

About this title

Review

Apte and Monier-Williams are the most frequently used Sanskrit-English Dictionary, but Macdonnell has a number of advantages. Apte is a bit scruffy, MW is too big. Macdonnell's vocabulary is very comprehensive - it is rare that one has to go to Monier-Williams for a word not in Macdonnell, and unlike MW, it is strictly alphabetical, which make it very much easier to use. It is a handsome and easy-to-read production, unlike Apte. One tip for users - a whole page was omitted from the original 1923 edition as exists as an Addendum at the front of the book - if you can't find a word beginning with prac-, that is where it will be! --By IM Taylor on August 3, 1999

This is a great dictionary. The only thing to be aware of is that it's arranged alphabetically according to romanized Sanskrit alphabet which takes some getting used to if you're still learning that. I also wish there was an English-Sanskrit dictionary but I haven't seen that, probably because it's not exactly a spoken language. --By nina on October 28, 2013

A little bit hard to follow unless you learn the Sanskrit alphabet. So far it makes no sense to me, I would have preferred an English alphabet method of alphabetizing so that I can actually find the words I need instead of looking in a million places --By Mira on March 12, 2015

About the Author

Macdonell was born Muzaffarpur in India the son of Charles Alexander Macdonell, of the Indian Army. He was educated at Göttingen University, then matriculated in 1876 at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, gaining a classical exhibition and three scholarships (for German, Chinese, and the Boden Scholarship for Sanskrit). He graduated with classical honours in 1880 and was appointed Taylorian Teacher of German at Oxford. In 1883 he obtained his PhD from the University of Leipzig, and then became Deputy Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford in 1888, and Boden Professor of Sanskrit in 1899 (a post that carried with it a fellowship of Balliol College, Oxford.[2] Macdonell edited various Sanskrit texts, wrote a grammar,[3] compiled a dictionary, and published a Vedic grammar, a Vedic Reader, and a work on Vedic mythology; he also wrote a history of Sanskrit.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 1963
• ISBN 10: 0198643039
• ISBN 13: 9780198643036
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 396