ព្រះ

From Old Khmer វ្រះ (vraḥ, “to be holy, sacred, divine; celestial or holy being”), of disputed origin. Jenner suggests derivation from Old Khmer រះ (raḥ, “to shine”) with prefix w, potentially a calque of Sanskrit श्री (śrī, “[diffusing light or radiance; splendid; radiant; beautifying; adorning”).[1]

Most dictionaries attribute the source of the Old Khmer as ultimately Sanskrit वर (vara, “best; excellent; foremost; holy; precious; top; valuable; etc”), although some authors maintain that it is an autochthonous Mon-Khmer word, for example Shorto (2006), who reconstructed Proto-Mon-Khmer *brah (“divine being”). Pain (2014)[2] disagreed with both theories, proposing that the Old Khmer originates as a reduced form of Sanskrit ब्राह्मण (brāhmaṇa, “relating to a Brahmin; divine”).

Compare Burmese ဘုရား (bhu.ra:); Telugu వరము (varamu), వరుడు (varuḍu); Thai พระ (prá)

ព្រះ • (prĕəh)

1. Buddha
2. God
3. Lord
4. count or earl (title)

• ព្រះច័ន្ទ (preah can)
• ព្រះពុទ្ធ (preah put)
• ព្រះយេស៊ូ (preah yeesuu)

• ទេវ (teiveaʔ)