जरा

See also: ज़रा, जरो, जोर, ज़ीरा, जीरा, ज़ार, and ज़ोर

Hindi

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Sanskrit जरा (jarā), from the root जॄ (jṝ), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂-.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Hindi) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒə.ɾɑː/, [d͡ʒɐ.ɾäː]

Noun

जरा • (jarā) f

1. infirmity
2. senility
3. decrepitude

Declension

Declension of जरा (fem ā-stem)

	singular	plural
direct	जरा jarā	जराएँ jarāẽ
oblique	जरा jarā	जराओं jarāõ
vocative	जरा jarā	जराओ jarāo

Related terms

• जरा-ग्रस्त (jarā-grast, “assailed by age, infirm”)
• जरा-जीर्ण (jarā-jīrṇ, “made frail by age”)
• जरातुर (jarātur, “afflicted by age, decrepit, senile”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Standard Hindi) IPA^(key): /zə.ɾɑː/, [zɐ.ɾäː], /d͡ʒə.ɾɑː/, [d͡ʒɐ.ɾäː]

Determiner

जरा • (jarā)

1. nuqtaless form of ज़रा (zarā)

Adverb

जरा • (jarā)

1. nuqtaless form of ज़रा (zarā)

References

• Dāsa, Śyāmasundara (1965–1975), “जरा”, in Hindī Śabdasāgara [lit. “Sea of Hindi words”] (in Hindi), Kashi [Varanasi]: Nagari Pracarini Sabha
• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993), “जरा”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press

Nepali

Alternative forms

• जरो (jaro)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [d͡zʌɾä]
• Phonetic Devanagari: जरा

Noun

जरा • (jarā)

1. root (of plants, nails, teeth)
2. source, main cause

References

• “जरा”, in नेपाली बृहत् शब्दकोश (nepālī br̥hat śabdakoś) [Comprehensive Nepali Dictionary]‎^[1], Kathmandu: Nepal Academy, 2018
• Schmidt, Ruth L. (1993), “जरा”, in A Practical Dictionary of Modern Nepali, Ratna Sagar

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• jarā (Latin script)
• 𑀚𑀭𑀸 (Brahmi script)
• জরা (Bengali script)
• ජරා (Sinhalese script)
• ဇရာ or ၹရႃ (Burmese script)
• ชรา or ชะรา (Thai script)
• ᨩᩁᩣ (Tai Tham script)
• ຊຣາ or ຊະຣາ (Lao script)
• ជរា (Khmer script)
• 𑄎𑄢𑄂 (Chakma script)

Adjective

जरा

1. Devanagari script form of jarā, ablative singular masculine/neuter and nominative/vocative plural masculine of जर (jara, “old”)
2. Devanagari script form of jarā, nominative singular feminine and nominative/vocative/accusative plural feminine of जर (jara, “old”)

Noun

जरा f

1. Devanagari script form of jarā (“old age”)

Declension

Declension table of "जरा" (feminine)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	जरा (jarā)	जरायो (jarāyo) or जरा (jarā)
Accusative (second)	जरं (jaraṃ)	जरायो (jarāyo) or जरा (jarā)
Instrumental (third)	जराय (jarāya)	जराहि (jarāhi) or जराभि (jarābhi)
Dative (fourth)	जराय (jarāya)	जरानं (jarānaṃ)
Ablative (fifth)	जराय (jarāya)	जराहि (jarāhi) or जराभि (jarābhi)
Genitive (sixth)	जराय (jarāya)	जरानं (jarānaṃ)
Locative (seventh)	जराय (jarāya) or जरायं (jarāyaṃ)	जरासु (jarāsu)
Vocative (calling)	जरे (jare)	जरायो (jarāyo) or जरा (jarā)

Sanskrit

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• জৰা (Assamese script)
• ᬚᬭᬵ (Balinese script)
• জরা (Bengali script)
• 𑰕𑰨𑰯 (Bhaiksuki script)
• 𑀚𑀭𑀸 (Brahmi script)
• ဇရာ (Burmese script)
• જરા (Gujarati script)
• ਜਰਾ (Gurmukhi script)
• 𑌜𑌰𑌾 (Grantha script)
• ꦗꦫꦴ (Javanese script)
• 𑂔𑂩𑂰 (Kaithi script)
• ಜರಾ (Kannada script)
• ជរា (Khmer script)
• ຊຣາ (Lao script)
• ജരാ (Malayalam script)
• ᡯᠠᡵᠠᢇ (Manchu script)
• 𑘕𑘨𑘰 (Modi script)
• ᠽᠠᠷᠠ᠋᠎ᠠ (Mongolian script)
• 𑦵𑧈𑧑 (Nandinagari script)
• 𑐖𑐬𑐵 (Newa script)
• ଜରା (Odia script)
• ꢙꢬꢵ (Saurashtra script)
• 𑆘𑆫𑆳 (Sharada script)
• 𑖕𑖨𑖯 (Siddham script)
• ජරා (Sinhalese script)
• 𑩣𑩼𑩛 (Soyombo script)
• 𑚑𑚤𑚭 (Takri script)
• ஜரா (Tamil script)
• జరా (Telugu script)
• ชรา (Thai script)
• ཛ་རཱ (Tibetan script)
• 𑒖𑒩𑒰 (Tirhuta script)
• 𑨥𑨫𑨊 (Zanabazar Square script)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂-. Cognate with Ancient Greek γῆρας (gêras, “old age”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /d͡ʑɐ.ɾɑː/

Noun

जरा • (jarā) stem, f (root जॄ)

1. old age

Declension

Feminine ā-stem declension of जरा

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	जरा (jarā)	जरे (jare)	जराः (jarāḥ)
accusative	जराम् (jarām)	जरे (jare)	जराः (jarāḥ)
instrumental	जरया (jarayā) जरा¹ (jarā¹)	जराभ्याम् (jarābhyām)	जराभिः (jarābhiḥ)
dative	जरायै (jarāyai)	जराभ्याम् (jarābhyām)	जराभ्यः (jarābhyaḥ)
ablative	जरायाः (jarāyāḥ) जरायै² (jarāyai²)	जराभ्याम् (jarābhyām)	जराभ्यः (jarābhyaḥ)
genitive	जरायाः (jarāyāḥ) जरायै² (jarāyai²)	जरयोः (jarayoḥ)	जराणाम् (jarāṇām)
locative	जरायाम् (jarāyām)	जरयोः (jarayoḥ)	जरासु (jarāsu)
vocative	जरे (jare)	जरे (jare)	जराः (jarāḥ)

• ¹Vedic
• ²Brāhmaṇas

Further reading

• Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2026), “jarā”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.