पर्शु

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *párćuš (“rib”), from Proto-Indo-European *pérḱus. Cognate with Avestan 𐬞𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬯𐬎𐬱 (pər^əsuš, “rib, side”), Northern Kurdish parsû (“rib”), Ossetian фарс (fars, “side”), Old Church Slavonic прьси (prĭsi, “breast”); see also पृष्टि (pṛṣṭi, “rib”).

In the Rigveda, this word means only "rib", but it came also to mean "sickle" in the later Atharvaveda. This semantic transfer becomes clear when we take into consideration the rib-like shape of the sickle and realize that the rib of a horse was actually sharpened to produce the instrument.

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /pɐ́ɾ.ɕu/
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpɐɾ.ɕu/

पर्शु • (párśu) stem, m

1. a rib
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.105.8:

     सं मा तपन्त्यभितः सपत्नीरिव पर्शवः ।
     मूषो न शिश्ना व्यदन्ति माध्य स्तोतारं ते शतक्रतो वित्तं मे अस्य रोदसी ॥

     saṃ mā tapantyabhitaḥ sapatnīriva parśavaḥ.
     mūṣo na śiśnā vyadanti mādhya stotāraṃ te śatakrato vittaṃ me asya rodasī.

     Like rival wives, on every side, enclosing ribs oppress me sore.
     O Śatakratu, biting cares devour me, singer of thy praise, as rats devour the weaver's threads. Mark this my woe, ye Earth and Heaven.

2. curved knife, sickle
   • c. 1200 BCE – 1000 BCE, Atharvaveda 12.3.31:

     प्र यच्छ पर्शुं त्वरया हरौसमहिंसन्त ओषधीर्दान्तु पर्वन् ।
     यासां सोमः परि राज्यं बभूवामन्युता नो वीरुधो भवन्तु ॥

     pra yaccha parśuṃ tvarayā harausamahiṃsanta oṣadhīrdāntu parvan.
     yāsāṃ somaḥ pari rājyaṃ babhūvāmanyutā no vīrudho bhavantu.

     Present the sickle: quickly bring it hither. Let them out plants and joints with hands that harm not.
     So may the plants be free from wrath against us, they o'er whose realm Soma hath won dominion.

3. name of a man
4. (in the plural) name of a warrior-tribe

• पार्श्व (pārśva)

• पृष्टि (pṛṣṭi)

• Dardic:
  • Shina: प्रशु (práśu)
  • Punjabi: ਪੱਸਲੀ (passalī)
• ⇒ Prakrit: 𑀧𑀁𑀲𑀼𑀮𑀺𑀆 (paṃsuliā)
  • Gujarati: પાંસળી (pā̃saḷī)
  • Hindi: पसली (paslī)
  • Old Marathi: पासोळी (pāsoḷī), पांसोळी (pāṃsoḷī)
    • Marathi: फासळी (phāsḷī)

पर्शु • (párśu) stem, f

1. the supporting or side wall of a well
2. name of a woman

• Monier Williams (1899) “पर्शु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 609/2.
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎ (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 100-101
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “párśu”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 448