English to Sanskrit Dictionary of Sir Monier Williams is a unique encyclopaedic work in itself. It contains Sanskrit equivalent of almost all possible English words. This reverse Sanskrit Dictionary is an immense aid to the English knowing people who want to understand and learn Sanskrit language and study great literature.
The compiler of the dictionary commenced by transcribing carefully, and then arranging in alphabetical order, all the English words, with their Sanskrit synonyms, contained in the Kosa of Amarasimha. His next step was, to have copied, on nearly two thousand pages of all the English words in Riddle’s English-Latin Dictionary, known to be very useful in Latin composition. Having thus prepared a kind of thesaurus, or repository for the collection of words and phrases, he proceeded to insert therein, in their proper places, all the words of the Amarakosa above referred to, as well as all those contained in the Hitopadesa, the selections from the Mahabharata, the Meghaduta etc. It required a very attentive perusal of the dictionary, accompanied by much transcribing, collating, arraning, and inserting of words and phrases. After years of immense labour of the compiler, this dictionary came into it’s present shape.
The present edition of English Sanskrit Dictionary is the first recomposed edition after year 1851 with much improved and enlarged type format. The old usage of English words has been replaced by the corresponding modern equivalents. The present edition runs in two volumes and every effort has been made to ensure that each and every letter is easily readable for all age groups.
