Pati (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

: पति, 𐬯𐬙) is a title meaning " master" or "

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

". The word is in common usage in the Indian subcontinent today. Etymologically, the word derives from the

Indo-European language The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia ( ...

family and finds references in various classical

Indo-Iranian languages The Indo-Iranian languages (also known as Indo-Iranic languages or collectively the Aryan languages) constitute the largest branch of the Indo-European language family. They include over 300 languages, spoken by around 1.7 billion speakers ...

, including

Old Persian language Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its nativ ...

and

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

. In modern-day Hindustani and other

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages, or sometimes Indic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of 2024, there are more than 1.5 billion speakers, primarily concentrated east ...

, ''pati'' and ''patni'' have taken on the meanings of ''husband'' and ''wife'' respectively when used as standalone words. The feminine equivalent in Indo-Aryan languages is ''patni'' (literally, "mistress" or "

lady ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

"). The term ''pati'' is frequently used as a suffix, e.g. ''lakhpati'' (meaning, master of a

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

rupees).

Modern usage

*As a standalone term indicating husband, ''pati'' *In official titles, e.g. ''Rashtra-pati'' (राष्ट्रपति, راشٹرپتی, President, literally means 'Lord of the Nation'), '' Sena-pati'' (सेनापति, سیناپتی,

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, literally means 'Lord of the Army') and ''Sabha''''-pati'' (सभापति,

Chairperson The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

, literally means 'Lord of the Council') *In feudal and corporate titles, e.g. ''Bhumi-pati'' (भूमिपति,

Landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

),https://www.learnsanskrit.cc/translate?search=landlord&dir=au ''Udyog-pati'' (उद्योगपति'', '' Industrialist'', ''literally means 'Lord of the Industry'). *In adjectives, e.g. ''crore-pati'' (करोड़पति, کروڑپتی, rich, master of a

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

rupees), ''lakh-pati'' (लखपति, لکھپتی, rich person, master of a

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).

Etymology and cognates

The term ''pati'' is believed to originate from the

Proto-Indo-European language Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Eu ...

. 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''). 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 FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

, 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 word "despot" from the Greek δεσ-πότης, meaning "''master, despot, lord, owner''." 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''. In Lithuanian, ''pats'' as a standalone word came to mean husband, himself (''patis'' in Old Lithuanian), as did ''pati'' in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

/ Hindustani.

Common usage

* Pithipati * Rashtrapati * Pashupati * Ganapati * Vāstoṣpati * Vacaspati * Brhaspati * Ksetrapati * Chhatrapati * Sethupathi * Crorepati

References

Titles in India Suffixes Hindustani language {{India-culture-stub