[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Vedic Index of Names and Subjects](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912) › v2.c4.s9.1122 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s9.1122 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s9.1122 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c4.s9.1122](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9.1122) Strī is the ordinary word in poetry and prose for ‘woman,’ without special reference to her as a wife or as a maiden. Nārī has the same sense, but disappears in later prose, while Gnā refers only to the wives of the gods, and Yoṣit, with its cognate words, denotes the young woman as ripe for marriage.¹ In the Rigveda² Strī stands opposed to Pumāṃs, ‘man,’ and once to vṛṣan, ‘male person’; not until the Atharvaveda³ does it mean ‘wife’ as opposed to Pati, ‘husband,’ and even in the Sūtras it is sharply opposed to Jāyā. - [Previous: v2.c4.s9.1121](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9.1121) - [Next: v2.c4.s9.1123](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9.1123) - [Up: v2.c4.s9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9.1122](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9.1122) · Pramāṇa