พระ

Thai

Alternative forms

• (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Khmer bra or Angkorian Old Khmer braḥ, braḥh, brah (literally “distinguished; divine; excellent; holy; sacred; superior; etc”), likely from Sanskrit वर (vara, “best; excellent; foremost; holy; precious; top; valuable; etc”); see Khmer ព្រះ (prĕəh) for more.

Compare Old Khmer vraḥ, vraḥh, vrah, vrahh, vrāʼaḥ, brā; Angkorian Old Khmer vraḥ, vraḥha, vraḥh, vrah, vras, vrāḥ.

Cognate with Modern Khmer ព្រះ (prĕəh); Lao ພະ (pha), ພຣະ (pha ra). Compare also Burmese ဘုရား (bhu.ra:), Old Javanese phra, Javanese bra. Doublet of พร (pɔɔn) and วร (wɔɔn)

Pronunciation

Orthographic		พระ b r a
Phonemic		พฺระ b ̥ r a
Romanization	Paiboon	prá
	Royal Institute	phra
(standard) IPA(key)		/pʰraʔ˦˥/(R)

Noun

พระ • (prá)

1. god, deity; priest, royal person; also used as an honorific or term of address.
   • 1 Chronicles 10:10, KJV:

     เขาเอาเครื่องอาวุธของพระองค์ไปไว้ในวิหารพระของเขา

     kǎo ao krʉ̂ʉang-aa-wút kɔ̌ɔng prá-ong bpai wái nai wí-hǎan prá kɔ̌ɔng kǎo

     And they put his armour in the house of their gods,

   • เจ้าฟ้าธรรมธิเบศไชยเชษฐ์สุริยวงศ์, กาพย์เห่เรือ:

     พระเสด็จโดยแดนชล

     prá sà-dèt dooi dɛɛn chon

     He [the king] travels by water.

2. representation, as image, statue, sculpture, etc, of such person.
3. used as an honorific for or term of address to anyone or anything relating to a god, deity, priest, or royal person, or to a representation of such person.
4. (historical) the Thai noble rank above หลวง (lǔuang) and below พระยา (prá-yaa); holder of this rank.
5. male protagonist, as in a literary work, drama, etc.

Usage notes

When used as the honorific according to the third definition, the term may be combined with other terms to form more elegancy. Examples are:

Terms	Literal meaning	Application			Notes
		Gods	High priests	Royals
พระบรมมหาราช (prá-bɔɔ-rom-má-hǎa-râat-chá-)	sacred, supreme, great, royal				For monarchs
พระบรม (prá-bɔɔ-rom-má-)	sacred, supreme				For monarchs
พระบรมราช (prá-bɔɔ-rom-má-râat-chá-)	sacred, supreme, royal				For monarchs
พระบวร (prá-bɔɔ-wɔɔ-rá-)	sacred, exalted				For princes of the Front Palace
พระบวรราช (prá-bɔɔ-wɔɔ-rá-râat-chá)	sacred, exalted, royal				For princes of the Front Palace
พระปรม (prá-bpɔɔ-rá-má-)	sacred, supreme				For monarchs
พระพุทธ (prá-pút-tá-)	sacred, Buddhist				For Buddhas and Buddhist high priests
พระมหา (prá-má-hǎa-)	sacred, great
พระมหาราช (prá-má-hǎa-râat-chá-)	sacred, great, royal
พระมหาสมณ (prá-má-hǎa-sà-má-ná-)	sacred, great, ecclesiastical
พระราช (prá-râat-chá-)	sacred, royal				For high-ranking royals
พระวร (prá-wɔɔ-rá-)	sacred, excellent				For high-ranking royals
พระสมณ (prá-sà-má-ná-)	sacred, ecclesiastical
พระสุร (prá-sù-rá-)	sacred, celestial				For high-ranking royals

See also

• (noble ranks) บรรดาศักดิ์ (ban-daa-sàk); สมเด็จเจ้าพระยา (sǒm-dèt-jâao-prá-yaa), เจ้าพระยา (jâao-prá-yaa), พระยา (prá-yaa), พระ (prá), หลวง (lǔuang), ขุน (kǔn), หมื่น (mʉ̀ʉn), พัน (pan), นาย (naai) ^{(Category: Thai noble ranks)}