n. 1. Any of the vernacular and literary Indic languages recorded from the third century BC to the fourth century AD, as opposed to Sanskrit. 2. Any of the modern Indic languages. [Sanskrit prākṛtam, from neuter sing. of prākṛta-, natural, vulgar, vernacular : pra-, before, forward; see per1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + karoti, he makes; see SANSKRIT.] Pra·kritic adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.