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From the root सीव्यति (sīvyati, to sew), and connected with सूचि (sūci) and सूना (sūnā). May have the same Indo-European root as English word "suture."


सूत्र (sū́tran

  1. thread, yarn, string, line, cord, wire
  2. a measuring line
    सूत्रपात (sū́tra-pāta) — applying the measuring line
  3. the sacred thread or cord worn by the first three classes (compare यज्ञोपवीत (yajño-pavīta))
  4. a girdle
  5. a fibre
  6. a line, stroke
  7. a sketch, plan
  8. that which like a thread runs through or holds together everything, rule, direction
  9. a short sentence or aphoristic rule, and any work or manual consisting of strings of such rules hanging together like threads; a sutra
  10. a kind of tree



  • Sir Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English dictionary etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1898, page 1241