शिर

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Alternative scripts

• শিৰ (Assamese script)
• ᬰᬶᬭ (Balinese script)
• শির (Bengali script)
• 𑰫𑰰𑰨 (Bhaiksuki script)
• 𑀰𑀺𑀭 (Brahmi script)
• ၐိရ (Burmese script)
• શિર (Gujarati script)
• ਸ਼ਿਰ (Gurmukhi script)
• 𑌶𑌿𑌰 (Grantha script)
• ꦯꦶꦫ (Javanese script)
• 𑂬𑂱𑂩 (Kaithi script)
• ಶಿರ (Kannada script)
• ឝិរ (Khmer script)
• ຨິຣ (Lao script)
• ശിര (Malayalam script)
• ᡧᡳᡵᠠ (Manchu script)
• 𑘫𑘱𑘨 (Modi script)
• ᠱᠢᠷᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
• 𑧋𑧒𑧈 (Nandinagari script)
• 𑐱𑐶𑐬 (Newa script)
• ଶିର (Odia script)
• ꢯꢶꢬ (Saurashtra script)
• 𑆯𑆴𑆫 (Sharada script)
• 𑖫𑖰𑖨 (Siddham script)
• ශිර (Sinhalese script)
• 𑩿𑩑𑩼 (Soyombo script)
• 𑚧𑚮𑚤 (Takri script)
• ஶிர (Tamil script)
• శిర (Telugu script)
• ศิร (Thai script)
• ཤི་ར (Tibetan script)
• 𑒬𑒱𑒩 (Tirhuta script)
• 𑨮𑨁𑨫 (Zanabazar Square script)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“head”); see there for more. Cognate with Avestan 𐬯𐬀𐬭𐬀 (sara).

Noun

शिर • (śira) stem, m

1. (anatomy) head, skull, cephalon
2. peak, top
3. bed, couch

Declension

Masculine a-stem declension of शिर (śira)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	शिरः śiraḥ	शिरौ / शिरा¹ śirau / śirā¹	शिराः / शिरासः¹ śirāḥ / śirāsaḥ¹
Vocative	शिर śira	शिरौ / शिरा¹ śirau / śirā¹	शिराः / शिरासः¹ śirāḥ / śirāsaḥ¹
Accusative	शिरम् śiram	शिरौ / शिरा¹ śirau / śirā¹	शिरान् śirān
Instrumental	शिरेण śireṇa	शिराभ्याम् śirābhyām	शिरैः / शिरेभिः¹ śiraiḥ / śirebhiḥ¹
Dative	शिराय śirāya	शिराभ्याम् śirābhyām	शिरेभ्यः śirebhyaḥ
Ablative	शिरात् śirāt	शिराभ्याम् śirābhyām	शिरेभ्यः śirebhyaḥ
Genitive	शिरस्य śirasya	शिरयोः śirayoḥ	शिराणाम् śirāṇām
Locative	शिरे śire	शिरयोः śirayoḥ	शिरेषु śireṣu
Notes	¹Vedic

Descendants

• Dardic:
  • Pashayi: šero
  • Kashmiri: ह्यरि॒ (hyari॒), हीरू॒ (hīrū॒)
• Old Javanese: śirah
  • Javanese: ꦱꦶꦫꦃ (sirah)
    • → Sundanese: ᮞᮤᮛᮂ (sirah)
  • → Balinese: ᬰᬶᬭᬄ → ᬲᬶᬭᬄ (sirah)
• Pali: sira
  • → Sinhalese: සිර (sira)
• Prakrit: 𑀲𑀺𑀭 (sira)
  • Punjabi: ਸਿਰ (sir), ਸਿਰੀ (sirī)
  • Sindhi: 𑋝𑋡𑋙𑋣 (siru), 𑋝𑋡𑋙𑋢 (sirī)
  • West Pahāṛī: śir,śirī
    • Churahi: 𑚧𑚮𑚤
  • Kumaoni: सिर
  • Nepali: सिर (sira)
  • Assamese: শিৰ (xir)
  • Bengali: শির (śir)
  • Odia: ଶିର (śira)
  • Maithili: 𑒮𑒱𑒩 (sira)
  • Awadhi: 𑂮𑂱𑂩
  • Hindi: सिर (sir), सिरा (sirā), सिरी (sirī)
  • Gujarati: સિર (sir)
  • Marathi: 𑘫𑘲𑘨 (śīr), शीर (śīr)

References

• [1] definition from Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit.

Further reading

• Hellwig, Oliver (2010-2024) “śira”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.