Sanskritize

Verb

Sanskritize (third-person singular simple present Sanskritizes, present participle Sanskritizing, simple past and past participle Sanskritized)

1. (British, English, Oxford, US, transitive) To render a non-Sanskrit text, word, etc., in a form characteristic of Sanskrit morphology or phonology.
   • "In India, gao, gauri, govinda, have relation to Kine." The 1st and 3rd have, but the other (meaning white, fair), none whatever, though the only one to his [Edward Moor's] purpose (and that but in sound), which is to Sanskritize Cuarius, a local epithet of Neptune as worshipped at Cierium in...1837 September, Cinsurensis [pseudonym], “Review. Oriental Fragments, by the Author of the Hindu Pantheon. London, 1834. [book review]”, in The Calcutta Christian Observer, volume VI, number 64...
   • One feels further inclined to derive the Sanskrit amśa, a portion, from the aforesaid pañchu, añju, as a Sanskritising of a popular word.1875, Robert Caldwell, quoting Hermann Gundert, “Part IV. The Numerals.”, in A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, 2nd edition, London: Trübner & Co., […]...
2. (British, English, Oxford, US, transitive) To influence a non-Sanskrit language by Sanskritic vocabulary.
   • The period when Sanskrit began to spread itself over India cannot be determined any more than the era of the immigration of the people who spoke it. We can only determine the following points: [...] (2) to the north, the Sanskrit or its dialects prevailed as far as the Himalaya and the Indian...1860, J[ohn] Muir, “The Languages of Northern India: Their History and Relations”, in Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, Their Religion and Institutions. […]...
   • The Tamils and Hindus use a dialect full of Sanskrit words; and the modern Sinhalese with a view to beautify language, do not assimilate sounds, and shorten expressions, but Sanskritize our ancient simple language.1863, James D’Awlis, “Introduction”, in Kachchàyana [i.e., Kātyāyana], An Introduction to Kachchàyana’s Grammar of the Pàli Language; […], Colombo; London: Williams and Norgate, […], →OCLC, page cx
3. (British, English, Oxford, South-Asia, US, transitive) To emulate rituals and practices of upper classes so as to gain upward social mobility.
   • After the Maráṭhás had put down the Mahomedans and established their sway, they always used the Mahomedan era, sometimes along with, but often without, the Śaka, notwithstanding the efforts of Shiváji to Sanskṛitize his Durbar.1872 January 11, Ram[a]krishna Gopal Bhandarkar, “Art. VIII.—A Devanágari Transcript and Date of a New Valabhí Copperplate, and a New Interpretation of the Figured Dates on the Published Grants of...
   • In the hope of making the book accessible to a nonspecialist audience, I have tried to de-Sanskritize it as far as possible. […] For when castes rise in both status and power by Sanskritizing, texts fall in status but rise in (readership) power by de-Sanskritizing.1993, “Introduction”, in Wendy Doniger, editor, Purāṇa Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page xi