च 1. the 20th letter of the alphabet, 1st of the 2nd (or palatal) class of consonants, having the sound of
ch in
church.
च n. 2.ind. and, both, also, moreover, as well as (=
τε,
Lat. que, placed like these particles as an enclitic after the word which it connects with what precedes; when used with a personal pronoun this must appear in its fuller accented form (
e.g. त॑व च म॑म च [not
ते च मे च], ‘both of thee and me’), when used after verbs the first of them is accented,
[Pāṇ. 8-1, 58 f.] ; it connects whole sentences as well as parts of sentences; in
[RV.] the double occurs more frequently than the single (
e.g. अहं॑ च त्वं॑ च, ‘I and thou’,
viii, 62, 11); the double may also be used somewhat redundantly in class.
Sanskṛt (
e.g. क्व हरिणकानां जीवितं चा-तिलोलं क्व च वज्र-साराः शरास् ते, ‘where is the frail existence, of fawns and where are thy adamantine arrows?’
[Śak. i, 10] ); in later literature, however, the first is more usually omitted (
e.g. अहं त्वं च), and when more than two things are enumerated only one is often found (
e.g. तेजसा यशसा लक्ष्म्या स्थित्या च परया, ‘in glory, in fame, in beauty, and in high position’
[Nal. xii, 6] ); elsewhere, when more than two things are enumerated, is placed after some and omitted after others (
e.g. ऋण-दाता च वैद्यश् च श्रोत्रियो नदी, ‘the payer of a debt and a physician [and] a
Brāhman [and] a river’
[Hit. i, 4, 55] ); in
Ved. and even in class.
Sanskṛt [
[Mn. iii, 20; ix, 322] ;
[Hit.] ], when the double would generally be used, the second may occasionally be omitted (
e.g. इन्द्रश् च सोम, ‘both
इन्द्र [and thou]
सोम’
[RV. vii, 104, 25] ;
दुर्भेद्यश् चा-शुसंधेयः, ‘both difficult to be divided [and] quickly united’
[Hit. i] ); with lexicographers may imply a reference to certain other words which are not expressed (
e.g. कमण्डलौ च करकः, ‘the word
करक has the meaning ‘pitcher’ and other meanings’); sometimes is =
एव, even, indeed, certainly, just (
e.g. सु-चिन्तितं चौ-षधं न नाम-मात्रेण करोत्य् अरोगम्, ‘even a well-devised remedy does not cure a disease by its mere name’
[Hit.] ;
यावन्त एव ते तावांश्च सः, ‘as great as they [were] just so great was he’
[Ragh. xii, 45] ); occasionally is disjunctive, ‘but’, ‘on the contrary’, ‘on the other hand’, ‘yet’, ‘nevertheless’ (
वरम् आद्यौ न चा-न्तिमः, ‘better the two first but not the last’
[Hit.] ;
शान्तम् इदम् आश्रम-पदं स्फुरति च बाहुः, ‘this hermitage is tranquil yet my arm throbs’
[Śak. i, 15] );
च-च, though-yet,
[Vikr. ii, 9] ;
च-न च, though - yet not,
[Pat.] ; -
न तु (
v.l. ननु)
id. ,
[Mālav. iv, 8] ;
न च - , though not - yet,
[Pat.] ; may be used for
वा, ‘either’, ‘or’ (
e.g. इह चा-मुत्र वा, ‘either here or hereafter’
[Mn. xii, 89] ;
स्त्री वा पुमान् वा यच् चा-न्यत् सत्त्वम्, ‘either a woman or a man or any other being’
[R.] ), and when a
neg. particle is joined with the two may then be translated by ‘neither’, ‘nor’; occasionally one or one
न is omitted (
e.g. न च परिभोक्तुं नै-व शक्नोमि हातुम्, ‘I am able neither to enjoy nor to abandon’
[Śak. v, 18] ;
न पूर्वा-ह्णे न च परा-ह्णे, ‘neither in the forenoon nor in the afternoon’);
च-च may express immediate connection between two acts or their simultaneous occurrence (
e.g. मम च मुक्तं तमसा मनो मनसिजेन धनुषि शरश् च निवेशितः, ‘no sooner is my mind freed from darkness than a shaft is fixed on his bow by the heart-born god’,
vi, 8); is sometimes =
चे-द्, ‘if’ (
cf. [Pāṇ. 8-1, 30] ; the verb is accented),
[RV.] ;
[AV.] ;
[MBh.] ;
[Vikr. ii, 20] ;
[Bhartṛ. ii, 45] ; may be used as an expletive (
e.g. अन्यैश् च क्रतुभिश् च, ‘and with other sacrifices’); is often joined to an
adv. like
एव,
अपि,
तथा,
तथै-व, &c., either with or without a
neg. particle (
e.g. वैरिणं नो-पसेवेत सहा-यं चैव वैरिणः, ‘one ought not to serve either an enemy or the ally of an enemy’
[Mn. iv, 133] ); (See
एव,
अपि, &c.) For the meaning of after an interrogative See
2.क॑, 2.
कथा॑,
कि॑म्,
क्व॑);
च [
cf. τε,
Lat. que,
pe (in
nempe &c.);
Goth. uh;
Zd. ca; Old
Pers. cā.]
च mfn. 3.mfn. pure,
[L.] moving to and fro,
[L.] mischievous,
[L.] seedless,
[L.] च m. m. a thief,
[L.] the moon,
[L.] a tortoise,
[L.] शिव,
[L.]