Pati (title)

2021-07-21T13:15:26Z

2405:201:600F:B047:2DEC:BAA7:BAF4:AABE:

{{Short description|Indian honorific}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
'''Pati''' ([[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]: पति,𐬯𐬙) is a title meaning "[[Superior (hierarchy)|master]]" or "[[lord]]". The word is in common usage in the Indian subcontinent today. Etymologically, the word derives from the [[Indo-European language]] family and finds references in various classical [[Indo-Iranian languages]], including [[Sanskrit]], [[Old Persian language]] and [[Avestan language|Avestan]].<ref name="ref79pelig">{{Citation | title=Indo-European sacred space: Vedic and Roman cult | author=Roger D. Woodard | publisher=University of Illinois Press, 2006 | isbn=978-0-252-02988-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EB4fB0inNYEC | quote=''... in Iran ... dmana-paiti, the vis-paiti, the zantu-paiti, and the dahyu-paiti ... Vedic dam-pati- 'master of the house', cognate to Avestan dmana-paiti, Greek preserves δεσ-πότης 'master, despot, lord, owner'; the Avestan vis-paiti finds his etymological counterpart not only in Vedia vis-pati- 'chief of the settlement, lord of the house', but in Lithuanian vies-pats 'lord' ...''}}</ref> In modern-day Hindustani and other [[India]]n languages, ''pati'' and ''patni'' have taken on the meanings of ''husband'' and ''wife'' respectively when used as standalone words.<ref name="ref78febem"/> The feminine equivalent in [[Indo-Aryan languages]] is ''patni'' (literally, "mistress" or "lady"). The term ''pati'' is frequently used as a suffix, e.g. ''lakhpati'' (meaning, master of a [[lakh]] rupees).<ref name="ref78febem">{{Citation | title=A Dictionary Of Urdu, Classical Hindi And English | author=John T. Platts | publisher=Kessinger Publishing, 2004 | isbn=978-0-7661-9231-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6BTHRBL5IEIC | quote=''... lakh-pati, or lakh-patl, or lakh-pat, sm Owner of a lac (of rupees), a millionaire ...''}}</ref>

==Modern usage==
*As a standalone term indicating husband, ''pati''
*In an official titles, e.g. ''Rashtra-pati'' (राष्ट्रपति, National President), ''Sena-pati'' (सेनापति, General of an Army, Master of an Army)
*In adjectives, e.g. ''crore-pati'' (करोड़पति, کروڑپتی, rich, master of a [[crore]] rupees), "lakh-pati" (लखपति, rich person, master of a lakh Rupees).
*As a descriptive term, e.g. ''dampati'' (married couple, master and mistress of the house)
* In names and surnames. It has been in usage in names in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times. Eg. Ganapati or Ganapathy (गणपति, Gana+Pati. Lord of the people/group/multitudes/categorical system); Bhupathy ([[Mahesh Bhupathy]] (भूपति, Bhu +Pati. Lord of the earth/soil)

==Etymology and cognates==
The term ''pati'' is believed to originate from the [[Proto-Indo-European language]].<ref name="ref17bemej">{{Citation | title=Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction | author=Benjamin W. Fortson | publisher=John Wiley and Sons, 2009 | isbn=978-1-4051-8896-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kn5c5dJmNUC | quote=''... 'lord of the house' < Indo-Ir. *dams pati-, PIE *dems potis ...''}}</ref> Older Persian languages, such as Avestan, use the term ''pati'' or ''paiti'' as a title extensively, e.g. ''dmana-paiti'' (master of the house, similar to Sanskrit ''dam-pati'').<ref name="ref79pelig"/><ref name="ref17bemej"/>

In Sanskrit, it is 'pat-' when uncompounded and meaning"husband" instrumental case p/atyā-; dative case p/atye-; genitive case ablative p/atyur-; locative case p/atyau-; But when meaning"lord, master", and in fine compositi or 'at the end of a compound' regularly inflected with exceptions; ) a master, owner, possessor, lord, ruler, sovereign etc. For example, in the Vedas, we come across words such as Brhas –pati, Praja – pati, Vachas –pati, Pasu – pati, Apam –pati, Bhu pati, Tridasa – pati and Nr - pati. Here the 'pati’' is suffix translated as “Lord of …………..”

In several Indo-European languages, cognate terms exist in varying forms (often as a suffix), for instance in the [[English language|English]] word "despot" from the [[Greek language|Greek]] δεσ-πότης, meaning "''master, despot, lord, owner''."<ref name="ref79pelig"/> In Latin, the term changed meaning from ''master'' to ''able'', and is "''an example of a substantive coming to be used as an adjective''," resulting in English words such as ''potent'', ''potential'' and ''potentate''.<ref name="ref35qulih">{{Citation | title=A short manual of comparative philology for classical students | author=Peter Giles | publisher=Macmillan and Co., 1895 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PExwAAAAIAAJ | quote=''... in Lithuanian pats (older patis), which means husband or lord and is identical with the Greek , Skt. patis and Latin potis (no longer a substantive) ... The Latin form of this word - potis - gives us an example of a substantive coming to be used as an adjective. In the verb possum, a corruption of potis sum, the original sense 'I am master' has faded into the vaguer 'I am able' ...''}}</ref> In [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], ''pats'' as a standalone word came to mean husband, himself (''patis'' in [[Old Lithuanian language|Old Lithuanian]]), as did ''pati'' in Hindi/ [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]].<ref name="ref35qulih"/>

==Common usage==
*[[Rashtrapati (disambiguation)|Rashtrapati]]
*[[Pashupati]]
*[[Ganapati]]
*[[Vāstoṣpati]]
*[[Brhaspati|Vacaspati]]
*[[Brhaspati]]
*[[Ksetrapati]]
*[[Chhatrapati]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Titles in India]]
[[Category:Suffixes]]
[[Category:Hindustani language]]

{{India-culture-stub}}

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Pati (title)