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Sa·ras·va·ti

(sə-rŭsvə-tē, sŭrəs-)

The Hindu goddess of learning and the arts, often described as the consort of Brahma and as a manifestation of Devi.

[Sanskrit Sarasvatī, name of a sacred river, Sarasvati; akin to Avestan haraxvaitī-, name of an ancient region on the western side of the Indus, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sarasvatī, feminine of *sarasvant-, *sarasvat-, abounding in bodies of water : *saras-, body of water + *-vant-, *-vat-, possessing, abounding in .]

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Sarasvati

c. 1860 Indian watercolor

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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