बीज

See also: बाज़ी, बाज़, बजे, and बाजा

Hindi

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit बीज (bī́ja). Doublet of बीआ (bīā), a tadbhava.

Pronunciation

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /biːd͡ʒ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

बीज • (bīj) m (Urdu spelling بیج)

1. seed, seedling
2. nucleus (clarification of this definition is needed)

   Synonym: नाभिक (nābhik)

3. kernel

Declension

Declension of बीज (masc cons-stem)

	singular	plural
direct	बीज bīj	बीज bīj
oblique	बीज bīj	बीजों bījõ
vocative	बीज bīj	बीजो bījo

Marwari

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit बीज (bīja).

Noun

बीज (bīj) ?

1. seed
2. sprout
3. semen

Derived terms

• बीजणौ (bījṇau)

Further reading

• Bhanwar, Lal Suthar, Gahlot, Sukhveer Singh (1998) राजस्थानी-हिन्दी-अंग्रेजी कोश [rājasthānī-hindī-aṅgrejī koś, Rajasthani-Hindi-English Dictionary] (in Hindi), Jodhpur: Bharat Printers (Press), page 240

Old Marathi

Noun

बीज (bīja) n

1. Devanagari script form of 𑘤𑘲𑘕

Declension

Declension of बीज
	singular	plural
direct	बीज (bīja)	बिजें (bijeṃ)
oblique	बिजा (bijā)	बिजां (bijāṃ)
instrumental	बिजें (bijeṃ)	बिजीं (bijīṃ)
locative	बिजी (bijī)	बिजीं (bijīṃ)

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• bīja (Latin script)
• 𑀩𑀻𑀚 (Brahmi script)
• বীজ (Bengali script)
• බීජ (Sinhalese script)
• ဗီဇ or ဗဳဇ or ၿီၹ (Burmese script)
• พีช or พีชะ (Thai script)
• ᨻᩦᨩ (Tai Tham script)
• ພີຊ or ພີຊະ (Lao script)
• ពីជ (Khmer script)
• 𑄝𑄩𑄎 (Chakma script)

Noun

बीज n

1. Devanagari script form of bīja

Declension

Declension table of "बीज" (neuter)

Case \ Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	बीजं (bījaṃ)	बीजानि (bījāni)
Accusative (second)	बीजं (bījaṃ)	बीजानि (bījāni)
Instrumental (third)	बीजेन (bījena)	बीजेहि (bījehi) or बीजेभि (bījebhi)
Dative (fourth)	बीजस्स (bījassa) or बीजाय (bījāya) or बीजत्थं (bījatthaṃ)	बीजानं (bījānaṃ)
Ablative (fifth)	बीजस्मा (bījasmā) or बीजम्हा (bījamhā) or बीजा (bījā)	बीजेहि (bījehi) or बीजेभि (bījebhi)
Genitive (sixth)	बीजस्स (bījassa)	बीजानं (bījānaṃ)
Locative (seventh)	बीजस्मिं (bījasmiṃ) or बीजम्हि (bījamhi) or बीजे (bīje)	बीजेसु (bījesu)
Vocative (calling)	बीज (bīja)	बीजानि (bījāni)

Sanskrit

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• বীজ (Assamese script)
• ᬩᬷᬚ (Balinese script)
• বীজ (Bengali script)
• 𑰤𑰱𑰕 (Bhaiksuki script)
• 𑀩𑀻𑀚 (Brahmi script)
• ဗီဇ (Burmese script)
• બીજ (Gujarati script)
• ਬੀਜ (Gurmukhi script)
• 𑌬𑍀𑌜 (Grantha script)
• ꦧꦷꦗ (Javanese script)
• 𑂥𑂲𑂔 (Kaithi script)
• ಬೀಜ (Kannada script)
• ពីជ (Khmer script)
• ພີຊ (Lao script)
• ബീജ (Malayalam script)
• ᠪᡳᡳᡯᠠ (Manchu script)
• 𑘤𑘲𑘕 (Modi script)
• ᠪᠢᠢᠽᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
• 𑧄𑧓𑦵 (Nandinagari script)
• 𑐧𑐷𑐖 (Newa script)
• ବୀଜ (Odia script)
• ꢨꢷꢙ (Saurashtra script)
• 𑆧𑆵𑆘 (Sharada script)
• 𑖤𑖱𑖕 (Siddham script)
• බීජ (Sinhalese script)
• 𑩲𑩑𑩛𑩣 (Soyombo script)
• 𑚠𑚯𑚑 (Takri script)
• பீ³ஜ (Tamil script)
• బీజ (Telugu script)
• พีช (Thai script)
• བཱི་ཛ (Tibetan script)
• 𑒥𑒲𑒖 (Tirhuta script)
• 𑨠𑨁𑨊𑨥 (Zanabazar Square script)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *bíHȷ́am (“seed, semen”). Cognate with Sogdian [script needed] (byz'k, “seed, semen”), Parachi bīz (“seed-corn”).

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /bíː.d͡ʑɐ/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /biː.d͡ʑɐ/

Noun

बीज • (bī́ja) stem, n

1. seed
   • c. 1500 BCE – 1000 BCE, Ṛgveda 5.53.13:

     येन तोकाय तनयाय धान्यं बीजं वहध्वे अक्षितम् ।
     अस्मभ्यं तद्धत्तन यद्व ईमहे राधो विश्वायु सौभगम् ॥

     yena tokāya tanayāya dhānyaṃ bījaṃ vahadhve akṣitam.
     asmabhyaṃ taddhattana yadva īmahe rādho viśvāyu saubhagam.

     Grant to us the bounty, that which we implore, through which, for child and progeny,
     Ye give the seed of corn that does not die, and bliss that reaches to all life.

2. semen
3. grain
4. origin
   • c. 400 BCE, Bhagavad Gītā 7.10:

     बीजं मां सर्वभूतानां सनातनम्

     bījaṃ māṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ sanātanam

     The origin I am of all beings, everlasting

5. algebra

Declension

Neuter a-stem declension of बीज

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	बीजम् (bī́jam)	बीजे (bī́je)	बीजानि (bī́jāni) बीजा¹ (bī́jā¹)
vocative	बीज (bī́ja)	बीजे (bī́je)	बीजानि (bī́jāni) बीजा¹ (bī́jā¹)
accusative	बीजम् (bī́jam)	बीजे (bī́je)	बीजानि (bī́jāni) बीजा¹ (bī́jā¹)
instrumental	बीजेन (bī́jena)	बीजाभ्याम् (bī́jābhyām)	बीजैः (bī́jaiḥ) बीजेभिः¹ (bī́jebhiḥ¹)
dative	बीजाय (bī́jāya)	बीजाभ्याम् (bī́jābhyām)	बीजेभ्यः (bī́jebhyaḥ)
ablative	बीजात् (bī́jāt)	बीजाभ्याम् (bī́jābhyām)	बीजेभ्यः (bī́jebhyaḥ)
genitive	बीजस्य (bī́jasya)	बीजयोः (bī́jayoḥ)	बीजानाम् (bī́jānām)
locative	बीजे (bī́je)	बीजयोः (bī́jayoḥ)	बीजेषु (bī́jeṣu)

• ¹Vedic

Borrowed terms

• Gujarati: બીજ (bīj)
• Bengali: বীজ (bij)
• Hindi: बीज (bīj)
• Khmer: ពីជៈ (piicĕəʼ)
• Kannada: ಬೀಜ (bīja)
• Marathi: बीज (bīj)
• Pali: bīja
• Tamil: பீசம் (pīcam)

Derived terms

• बीजक (bī́jaka)
  • Dardic:
    • Kalasha: bíyak

Descendants

• Dardic:
  • Kalasha: bi
  • Khowar: بی (bi)
  • Shina: बीँ (bī̃)
  • Torwali: بِژ (biž)
  • Kashmiri: بیول (byōl)
  • → Proto-Nuristani: *bī́ya (see there for further descendants)
• Gandhari: 𐨦𐨁𐨩 (biya)
• Maharastri Prakrit: 𑀩𑀻𑀅 (bīa) (see there for further descendants)
• Niya Prakrit: 𐨧𐨁𐨗𐨹 (bhij́a)
• Pali: bīja
• Sauraseni Prakrit:
  • Gujarati: બી (bī), બીયું (bīyũ)
  • Hindi: बीआ (bīā), बीया (bīyā)
  • Nepali: बीउ (bīu)
  • Punjabi: ਬੀ (bī)

Further reading

• Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2025) “bīja”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.