इव

Hindi

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit इव (iva).

Adverb

इव • (iva) (Urdu spelling او)

1. thus
2. as
3. almost

Preposition

इव • (iva) (Urdu spelling او)

1. as
2. like

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Sanskrit

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *éy. Compare Hittite 𒄿𒉿𒅈 (i-wa-ar /⁠iwar⁠/).

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /i.ʋɐ/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /ˈi.ʋɐ/

Adverb

इव • (iva)

1. like, in the same manner as (in this sense = यथा (yathā), and used correlatively to तथा (tathā))
2. as it were, as if

   पथेव ― patheva ― as if on a path

3. in a certain manner, in some measure, a little, perhaps (in qualification or mitigation of a strong assertion)
4. nearly, almost, about

   मुहूर्तम् इव ― muhūrtam iva ― almost an hour

5. so, just so, just, exactly, indeed, very (especially after words which involve some restriction:)

   ईषद् इव ― īṣad iva ― just a little

   किंचिद् इव ― kiṃcid iva ― just a little bit

   न चिराद् इव ― na cirād iva ― very soon

6. (as a particle) connected vaguely, and somewhat pleonastically, with an interrogative pronoun or adverb

   किम् इव ― kim iva ― what?

   कथम् इव ― katham iva ― how could that possibly be?

   क्वेव ― kveva ― where, I should like to know?

Usage notes

In the pada texts of the Rigveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda, and by native grammarians, इव (iva) is considered to be enclitic, and therefore compounded with the word after which it stands.

References

• Monier Williams (1899) “इव”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 0168.