दिल्ली

Hindi

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly from one of the following: Sanskrit डिल्लि (ḍilli)/डिल्ली (ḍillī); Apabhramsha ढिल्ली (first attested in a literary work from 1132 CE); a feminine form of दिल (dil, “hillock”) that changed to दिल्ली (dillī) over time; a corrupted form of देहली (dehlī) or दहलीज़ (dahlīz); or from धिलु (dhilu) or दिलु (dilu), the name of a former king by tradition. Some sources also say that the word is related to a loose pillar termed ढील (ḍhīl), which is from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀠𑀺𑀮𑁆𑀮 (ḍhilla). Compare Maharastri Prakrit 𑀠𑀺𑀮𑁆𑀮𑀻 (ḍhillī, “Delhi”) and Old Marathi 𑘛𑘲𑘩𑘲 (ḍhīlī, “Delhi”).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi Hindi) IPA^(key): /d̪ɪl.liː/, [d̪ɪl̪.l̪iː]

Proper noun

दिल्ली • (dillī) f (Urdu spelling دلّی‎)

1. Delhi (a megacity and union territory of India, containing the national capital New Delhi)

   भारत के प्रधान मंत्री दिल्ली प्रांत में रहते हैं।

   bhārat ke pradhān mantrī dillī prānt mẽ rahte ha͠i.

   The prime minister of India lives in Delhi.

   दिल्लीवाला ― dillīvālā ― Delhiite

Declension

Declension of दिल्ली (sg-only fem ī-stem)

	singular
direct	दिल्ली dillī
oblique	दिल्ली dillī
vocative	दिल्ली dillī

Derived terms

• दिल्ली अभी दूर है (dillī abhī dūr hai)

References

• Platts, John Thompson, “दिल्ली”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: William H. Allen and Company, 1884.
• Cohen, Richard J. "An Early Attestation of the Toponym Ḍhillī". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 1989: 513–519.
• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) , “दिल्ली”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press.

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Konkani

Proper noun

दिल्ली • (dillī) (Latin script ?, Kannada script ?)

1. Delhi (a megacity and union territory of India, containing the national capital New Delhi)