Dictionary entry

Prakrit

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Pra″krit (?), n. [Skr. prākṛta original, natural, usual, common, vulgar.] Any one of the popular dialects descended from, or akin to, Sanskrit; — in distinction from the Sanskrit, which was used as a literary and learned language when no longer spoken by the people. Pali is one of the Prakrit dialects.