Etymograph

English

shruti

Shruti comes from Sanskrit श्रुति ‘hearing, listening’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- ‘to hear’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱlew-1‘to hear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱlu-2reconstructed
  3. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEश्रु1śru‘to listen, hear’
  4. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEश्रुति1śruti‘hearing, listening’
  5. Englishtodayshruti1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English shruti
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Sanskrit श्रु

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱlew-Wiktionary, English shruti‘to hear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱlu-Wiktionary, Sanskrit श्रुreconstructed
  3. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEश्रुWiktionary, English shrutiśru‘to listen, hear’
  4. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEश्रुतिWiktionary, English shrutiśruti‘hearing, listening’
  5. EnglishtodayshrutiWiktionary, English shruti

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- ‘to hear’

listen, client, loud, scout, linn, leer, lithe, umlaut, 13 more

Today it means

noun The smallest interval of pitch that can be detected or produced.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shruti”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Sanskrit श्रु. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- / shruti

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