Help parsing Sanskrit lexicons? (Esp. for a particular meaning of th

From: Stewart Felker
Message: 71842
Date: 2015-06-08

Hi all. I'm writing an article for a Biblical studies journal, in which I need to make some brief comments on the etymology of a Greek word. This has me looking at some of its Indo-European relatives; and, in short, I'm in a bit over my head. 

I've found, in Monier-Williams, a gloss of the Sanskrit word जीवन (transliterated therein as "jīvana") as “butter made from new milk or milk one day old; marrow.” I'm aware that Monier-Williams is quite outdated, but I would be highly interested in finding out more about both of these glosses (particularly the latter), if possible. Yet as there is no source citation here, I'm at a bit of a loss in trying to find more info on it.

Obviously this seems to be a pretty obscure definition, so I'm guessing that it may be confined to, say, some of the early lexicons (or other lesser-known works)... and, needless to say, I don't really know where to go from here. Any help would be appreciated!


Stewart Felker,
University of Memphis