पशु

See also: पशू, पिश, पेश, पेशा, and पेशी

Hindi

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit पशु (paśu). Doublet of पस (pas).

Pronunciation

(Standard Hindi) IPA^(key): /pə.ʃuː/, [pɐ.ʃuː]

Noun

पशु • (paśu) m (Urdu spelling پشو)

domesticated animal
(rare, chiefly in compounds) cattle

Declension

Declension of *पशु* (masc u-stem)
	singular	plural
direct	पशु paśu	पशु paśu
oblique	पशु paśu	पशुओं paśuõ
vocative	पशु paśu	पशुओ paśuo

Sanskrit

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

পশু (Assamese script)
ᬧᬰᬸ (Balinese script)
পশু (Bengali script)
𑰢𑰫𑰲 (Bhaiksuki script)
𑀧𑀰𑀼 (Brahmi script)
ပၐု (Burmese script)
પશુ (Gujarati script)
ਪਸ਼ੁ (Gurmukhi script)
𑌪𑌶𑍁 (Grantha script)
ꦥꦯꦸ (Javanese script)
𑂣𑂬𑂳 (Kaithi script)
ಪಶು (Kannada script)
បឝុ (Khmer script)
ປຨຸ (Lao script)
പശു (Malayalam script)
ᢒᠠᡧᡠ (Manchu script)
𑘢𑘫𑘳 (Modi script)
ᢒᠠᠱᠤ (Mongolian script)
𑧂𑧋𑧔 (Nandinagari script)
𑐥𑐱𑐸 (Newa script)
ପଶୁ (Odia script)
ꢦꢯꢸ (Saurashtra script)
𑆥𑆯𑆶 (Sharada script)
𑖢𑖫𑖲 (Siddham script)
පශු (Sinhalese script)
𑩰𑩿𑩒 (Soyombo script)
𑚞𑚧𑚰 (Takri script)
பஶு (Tamil script)
పశు (Telugu script)
ปศุ (Thai script)
པ་ཤུ (Tibetan script)
𑒣𑒬𑒳 (Tirhuta script)
𑨞𑨮𑨃 (Zanabazar Square script)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *peḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *péḱu

Proto-Indo-Iranian *páću

Sanskrit पशु

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *páću, from Proto-Indo-European *péḱu (“cattle, livestock”). Cognate with Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬯𐬎 (pasu, “livestock”), Latin pecū (“cattle”), Old English feoh (“livestock, cattle”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿 (faihu, “cattle”).

Pronunciation

(Vedic) IPA^(key): /pɐ.ɕú/, /pɐ́.ɕu/
(Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /pɐ.ɕu/

Noun

प॒शु or पशु॑ • (paśú or páśu) stem, m or n

cattle, kine
- c. 1500 BCE – 1000 BCE, Ṛgveda 3.62.14:
  सोमो॑ अ॒स्मभ्यं॑ द्वि॒पदे॒ चतु॑ष्पदे च प॒शवे॑ ।
  अ॒न॒मी॒वा इष॑स्करत् ॥
  sómo asmábhyaṃ dvipáde cátuṣpade ca paśáve.
  anamīvā́ íṣaskarat.
  May Soma grant us and our cattle nutritious food,
  To two-footed (humans) and to quadruped (animals).
any domesticated animal
- c. 1200 BCE – 1000 BCE, Atharvaveda

Declension

Masculine u-stem declension of प॒शु
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	प॒शुः (paśúḥ)	प॒शू (paśū́)	प॒शवः॑ (paśávaḥ)
accusative	प॒शुम् (paśúm)	प॒शू (paśū́)	प॒शून् (paśū́n)
instrumental	प॒शुना॑ (paśúnā) प॒श्वा¹ (paśvā́¹)	प॒शुभ्या॑म् (paśúbhyām)	प॒शुभिः॑ (paśúbhiḥ)
dative	प॒शवे॑ (paśáve) प॒श्वे¹ (paśvé¹)	प॒शुभ्या॑म् (paśúbhyām)	प॒शुभ्यः॑ (paśúbhyaḥ)
ablative	प॒शोः (paśóḥ) प॒श्वः¹ (paśváḥ¹)	प॒शुभ्या॑म् (paśúbhyām)	प॒शुभ्यः॑ (paśúbhyaḥ)
genitive	प॒शोः (paśóḥ) प॒श्वः¹ (paśváḥ¹)	प॒श्वोः (paśvóḥ)	प॒शू॒नाम् (paśūnā́m)
locative	प॒शौ (paśáu)	प॒श्वोः (paśvóḥ)	प॒शुषु॑ (paśúṣu)
vocative	पशो॑ (páśo)	पशू॑ (páśū)	पश॑वः (páśavaḥ)

¹Vedic

Neuter u-stem declension of पशु॑
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	पशु॑ (páśu)	पशु॑नी (páśunī)	पशू॑नि (páśūni) पशु॑¹ (páśu¹) पशू॑¹ (páśū¹)
accusative	पशु॑ (páśu)	पशु॑नी (páśunī)	पशू॑नि (páśūni) पशु॑¹ (páśu¹) पशू॑¹ (páśū¹)
instrumental	पशु॑ना (páśunā) पश्वा॑¹ (páśvā¹)	पशु॑भ्याम् (páśubhyām)	पशु॑भिः (páśubhiḥ)
dative	पशु॑ने (páśune) पश॑वे¹ (páśave¹) पश्वे॑¹ (páśve¹)	पशु॑भ्याम् (páśubhyām)	पशु॑भ्यः (páśubhyaḥ)
ablative	पशु॑नः (páśunaḥ) पशोः॑¹ (páśoḥ¹) पश्वः॑¹ (páśvaḥ¹)	पशु॑भ्याम् (páśubhyām)	पशु॑भ्यः (páśubhyaḥ)
genitive	पशु॑नः (páśunaḥ) पशोः॑¹ (páśoḥ¹) पश्वः॑¹ (páśvaḥ¹)	पशु॑नोः (páśunoḥ) पश्वोः॑¹ (páśvoḥ¹)	पशू॑नाम् (páśūnām)
locative	पशु॑नि (páśuni) पशौ॑¹ (páśau¹)	पशु॑नोः (páśunoḥ) पश्वोः॑¹ (páśvoḥ¹)	पशु॑षु (páśuṣu)
vocative	पशु॑ (páśu) पशो॑ (páśo)	पशु॑नी (páśunī)	पशू॑नि (páśūni) पशु॑¹ (páśu¹) पशू॑¹ (páśū¹)

¹Vedic

Derived terms

पशव्य (paśavyà)
पशुपति (paśupáti)
पशुमन्त् (paśumánt)

Descendants

Ashokan Prakrit: 𑀧𑀲𑀼 (pasu), 𐨤𐨭𐨂 (paśu) (Northwest)
- Gandhari: 𐨤𐨭𐨂 (paśu)
- Magadhi Prakrit:
  - Assamese: পহু (pohu), পশু (poxu)
- Maharastri Prakrit: 𑀧𑀲𑀼 (pasu)
  - Marathi: पशू (paśū)
- Paisaci Prakrit:
  - Punjabi: ਪਸੂ (pasū)
- Sauraseni Prakrit: 𑀧𑀲𑀼 (pasu)
  - Hindi: पस (pas, “heifer”)
Dardic:
- Kashmiri: پۆش (poś)
Pali: pasu
- ⇒ Pali: pasuka
- → Old Kannada: ಪಸು (pasu)
  - Kannada: ಹಸು (hasu)
→ Cebuano: pasong
→ Kannada: ಪಶು (paśu)
→ Malayalam: പശു (paśu)
→ Tamil: பசு (pacu)
→ Telugu: పశువు (paśuvu)

References

Monier Williams (1899), “पशु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 611, column 2.
Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 108