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English word origin

Etymology of matra

Borrowed from Sanskrit मात्रा (mātrā, “measure, small quantity”).

1 source sectionBrief source recordWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

In Indian music, the smallest rhythmic unit of a tala. · In Indian poetics and linguistics, a measure of the length of a syllable; equivalent to mora. · The characteristic horizontal line drawn above characters in some Indic scripts. · An intra-syllabic vowel symbol in Indic scripts.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from Sanskrit मात्रा (mātrā, “measure, small quantity”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sa",
        "3": "मात्रा",
        "4": "",
        "5": "measure, small quantity"
      },
      "expansion": "Sanskrit मात्रा (mātrā, “measure, small quantity”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "मात्रा",
      "मात्रा#Sanskrit"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "In Indian music, the smallest rhythmic unit of a tala.",
        "In Indian poetics and linguistics, a measure of the length of a syllable; equivalent to mora.",
        "The characteristic horizontal line drawn above characters in some Indic scripts.",
        "An intra-syllabic vowel symbol in Indic scripts."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "3f43bec4d8623a4f28fbcc2f8589822334ccc670ad4ccfe79a6c418420863f2f",
      "rawRecordSha256": "cc0bcfed162ef4bc7dfc5a94b8eaea9e3ff464f97d3c269282994b44aa96b96e",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 218081
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
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  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for matra →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-bWF0cmE