हेतु

See also: हृत, हेतू, हति, होती, होतृ, होते, होता, and हात

Hindi

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit हेतु (hetu). Cognate with Marathi हेतू (hetū).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi Hindi) IPA^(key): /ɦeː.t̪uː/

Noun

हेतु • (hetu) m

1. cause, reason (that which causes)

   Synonyms: कारण (kāraṇ), वजह (vajah)

2. motive (reason for a particular action)

   मगर हत्या का हेतु क्या था?

   magar hatyā kā hetu kyā thā?

   But what was the motive for the killing?

Declension

Declension of हेतु (masc u-stem)

	singular	plural
direct	हेतु hetu	हेतु hetu
oblique	हेतु hetu	हेतुओं hetuõ
vocative	हेतु hetu	हेतुओ hetuo

Old Gujarati

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit हेतु (hetú).

Noun

हेतु • (hetu) m

1. cause, reason

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

• hetu (Latin script)
• 𑀳𑁂𑀢𑀼 (Brahmi script)
• হেতু (Bengali script)
• හෙතු (Sinhalese script)
• ဟေတု or ႁေတု (Burmese script)
• เหตุ (Thai script)
• ᩉᩮᨲᩩ (Tai Tham script)
• ເຫຕຸ (Lao script)
• ហេតុ (Khmer script)
• 𑄦𑄬𑄖𑄪 (Chakma script)

Noun

हेतु m

1. Devanagari script form of hetu

Declension

Declension table of "हेतु" (masculine)

Case \ Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	हेतु (hetu)	हेतवो (hetavo) or हेतू (hetū)
Accusative (second)	हेतुं (hetuṃ)	हेतवो (hetavo) or हेतू (hetū)
Instrumental (third)	हेतुना (hetunā)	हेतूहि (hetūhi) or हेतूभि (hetūbhi)
Dative (fourth)	हेतुस्स (hetussa) or हेतुनो (hetuno)	हेतूनं (hetūnaṃ)
Ablative (fifth)	हेतुस्मा (hetusmā) or हेतुम्हा (hetumhā)	हेतूहि (hetūhi) or हेतूभि (hetūbhi)
Genitive (sixth)	हेतुस्स (hetussa) or हेतुनो (hetuno)	हेतूनं (hetūnaṃ)
Locative (seventh)	हेतुस्मिं (hetusmiṃ) or हेतुम्हि (hetumhi)	हेतूसु (hetūsu)
Vocative (calling)	हेतु (hetu)	हेतवे (hetave) or हेतवो (hetavo)

Sanskrit

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• ᬳᬾᬢᬸ (Balinese script)
• হেতু (Assamese script)
• হেতু (Bengali script)
• 𑰮𑰸𑰝𑰲 (Bhaiksuki script)
• 𑀳𑁂𑀢𑀼 (Brahmi script)
• 𑌹𑍇𑌤𑍁 (Grantha script)
• હેતુ (Gujarati script)
• ਹੇਤੁ (Gurmukhi script)
• ꦲꦺꦠꦸ (Javanese script)
• ហេតុ (Khmer script)
• ಹೇತು (Kannada script)
• ເຫຕຸ (Lao script)
• ഹേതു (Malayalam script)
• 𑘮𑘹𑘝𑘳 (Modi script)
• ᠾᠧᢐᠤ (Mongolian script)
• ᡥᡝᢠᡠ (Manchu script)
• ဟေတု (Burmese script)
• 𑧎𑧚𑦽𑧔 (Nandinagari script)
• 𑐴𑐾𑐟𑐸 (Newa script)
• ହେତୁ (Oriya script)
• ꢲꢾꢡꢸ (Saurashtra script)
• 𑆲𑆼𑆠𑆶 (Sharada script)
• 𑖮𑖸𑖝𑖲 (Siddham script)
• හේතු (Sinhalese script)
• హేతు (Telugu script)
• เหตุ (Thai script)
• ཧེ་ཏུ (Tibetan script)
• 𑒯𑒹𑒞𑒳 (Tirhuta script)

Etymology

Compound of हि (hi) +‎ तु (tu).

Noun

हेतु • (hetú) m

1. "impulse", motive, cause, cause of, reason for (+locative, rarely dative or genitive)

   हेतुना (hetunā), हेतोः (hetoḥ), हेतवे (hetave), हेतौ (hetau) — for a cause or reason, by reason of, on account of (+genitive or compound):

   मम हेतोः (mama hetoḥ) or मद्-धेतोः (mad-dhetoḥ) — on account of me

   कं हेतुम् (kaṃ hetum) or को हेटुः (ko heṭuḥ) — wherefore?, why?

   यतो हेतोः (yato hetoḥ) — because

   अनेन हेतुना (anena hetunā) or इति हेतोः (iti hetoḥ) — for this reason

   मृत्यु-हेतवे (mṛtyu-hetave) — in order to kill

   हेतुर् अलौकिकः (hetur alaukikaḥ) — a supernatural cause

2. (at the end of a compound) "having as a cause or motive", "caused or effected or actuated or attracted or impelled by"

   कर्महेतु (karma-hetu) — caused by the acts (of a former existence)

   मांसहेतु (māṃsa-hetu) — attracted by (the smell of) flesh

   कर्मफलहेतु (karma-phala-hetu) — impelled by (the expectation of) the consequences of any act

3. a logical reason or deduction or argument, the reason for an inference (especially applied to the second member or अवयव (avayava) of the five-membered syllogism; compare न्याय (nyāya))
4. logic (in general, compare हेतुविद्या (hetuvidyā))
5. (grammar) the agent of the causal verb
6. (with Buddhists) primary cause (as opposed to प्रत्यय (pratyaya))
7. (with पशुपति (paśu-pati)s) that which causes the bondage of the soul i.e. the external world and the senses
8. the means

   हेतुभिः (hetubhiḥ) (at the end of a compound) — by means of

9. mode, manner

   हेतुभिः (hetubhiḥ) (at the end of a compound) — according to

10. price, cost
11. condition
12. (rhetoric) = काव्यलिङ्ग (kāvya-liṅga)

Declension

Masculine u-stem declension of हेतु (hetú)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	हेतुः hetúḥ	हेतू hetū́	हेतवः hetávaḥ
Vocative	हेतो héto	हेतू hétū	हेतवः hétavaḥ
Accusative	हेतुम् hetúm	हेतू hetū́	हेतून् hetū́n
Instrumental	हेतुना / हेत्वा¹ hetúnā / hetvā̀¹	हेतुभ्याम् hetúbhyām	हेतुभिः hetúbhiḥ
Dative	हेतवे / हेत्वे² hetáve / hetvè²	हेतुभ्याम् hetúbhyām	हेतुभ्यः hetúbhyaḥ
Ablative	हेतोः / हेत्वः² hetóḥ / hetvàḥ²	हेतुभ्याम् hetúbhyām	हेतुभ्यः hetúbhyaḥ
Genitive	हेतोः / हेत्वः² hetóḥ / hetvàḥ²	हेत्वोः hetvóḥ	हेतूनाम् hetūnā́m
Locative	हेतौ hetaú	हेत्वोः hetvóḥ	हेतुषु hetúṣu
Notes	¹Vedic ²Less common

Descendants

• Pali: hetu
  • → Khmer: ហេតុ (haet), ហែត (haet)
  • → Northern Thai: เหตุ, ᩉᩮᨲᩩ, ᩉᩮ᩠ᨲᩩ
  • → Thai: เหตุ (hèet)
• → Hindi: हेतु (hetu)
• → Marathi: हेतू (hetū)
• → Old Gujarati: हेतु (hetu)

References

• Monier Williams (1899), “हेतु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 1303.