# इभ
## Pali
### Alternative forms

* ibha (Latin script)
* 𑀇𑀪 (Brahmi script)
* ইভ (Bengali script)
* ඉභ (Sinhalese script)
* ဣဘ or ဢိꧤ (Burmese script)
* อิภ or อิภะ (Thai script)
* ᩍᨽ (Tai Tham script)
* ອິຠ or ອິຠະ (Lao script)
* ឥភ (Khmer script)
* 𑄃𑄨𑄞 (Chakma script)

### Noun

इभ m
* Devanagari script form of ibha (“elephant”)

#### Declension
## Prakrit
### Noun

इभ (ibha)
* Devanagari script form of 𑀇𑀪 (“elephant”)

## Sanskrit
### Alternative scripts

* ইভ (Assamese script)
* ᬇᬪ (Balinese script)
* ইভ (Bengali script)
* 𑰂𑰥 (Bhaiksuki script)
* 𑀇𑀪 (Brahmi script)
* ဣဘ (Burmese script)
* ઇભ (Gujarati script)
* ਇਭ (Gurmukhi script)
* 𑌇𑌭 (Grantha script)
* ꦆꦨ (Javanese script)
* 𑂅𑂦 (Kaithi script)
* ಇಭ (Kannada script)
* ឥភ (Khmer script)
* ອິຠ (Lao script)
* ഇഭ (Malayalam script)
* ᡳᢨᠠ (Manchu script)
* 𑘂𑘥 (Modi script)
* ᠢᠪᠾᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
* 𑦢𑧅 (Nandinagari script)
* 𑐂𑐨 (Newa script)
* ଇଭ (Odia script)
* ꢄꢩ (Saurashtra script)
* 𑆅𑆨 (Sharada script)
* 𑖂𑖥 (Siddham script)
* ඉභ (Sinhalese script)
* 𑩐𑩑𑩳 (Soyombo script)
* 𑚂𑚡 (Takri script)
* இப⁴ (Tamil script)
* ఇభ (Telugu script)
* อิภ (Thai script)
* ཨི་བྷ (Tibetan script)
* 𑒃𑒦 (Tirhuta script)
* 𑨀𑨁𑨡 (Zanabazar Square script)

### Pronunciation

* (Vedic) IPA: /í.bʱɐ/
* (Classical Sanskrit) IPA: /i.bʱɐ/

### Etymology 1

Uncertain. Possibly related to Tocharian B yäp- (“to enter”) (for the semantic development, compare the different meanings of विश् (viś)).

#### Noun

इभ • (íbha) stem, m
* household, family
* servant, attendant
** c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 4.4.1:कृणुष्व पाजः प्रसितिं न पृथ्वीं याहि राजेवामवां इभेन । तृष्वीम् अनु प्रसितिं द्रूणानो ऽस्तासि विध्य रक्षसस् तपिष्ठैः ॥kṛṇuṣva pājaḥ prasitiṃ na pṛthvīṃ yāhi rājevāmavāṃ ibhena. tṛṣvīm anu prasitiṃ drūṇāno ʼstāsi vidhya rakṣasas tapiṣṭhaiḥ.Put forth your strength, Agni, like a wide-spreading net, proceed like a king with his attendants; You, following your swift net, shoot arrows: transfix the fiends with darts that burn most fiercely.

##### Declension

* ¹Vedic

##### Derived terms

* इभ्य (íbhya, “wealthy”)

### Etymology 2

Compare Ancient Greek (ἐλ-)έφᾱς ((el-)éphās, “elephant, ivory”), Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀩𐀞 (e-re-pa /⁠elephās⁠/), Hittite 𒆷𒄴𒉺𒀸 (laḫpaš, “ivory”), and Latin ebur (“ivory”). The term was an ancient Wanderwort, going back to Semitic; compare Demotic yb (“ivory, Elephantine”), Egyptian
(ꜣbw, “ivory, elephant, Elephantine”), Coptic ⲓⲏⲃ (iēb, “Elephantine”), and Tigre ኣቦት (ʾabot).

#### Noun

इभ • (ibha) stem, m
* an elephant
    Synonyms: हस्तिन् (hastin), गज (gaja)
** c. 200 BCE – 200 CE, Manusmṛti 12.67:वृको मृगेभं व्याघ्रोऽश्वं फलमूलं तु मर्कटः । स्त्रीमृक्षः स्तोकको वारि यानान्युष्ट्रः पशूनजः ॥vṛko mṛgebhaṃ vyāghroʼśvaṃ phalamūlaṃ tu markaṭaḥ. strīmṛkṣaḥ stokako vāri yānānyuṣṭraḥ paśūnajaḥ.For [the crime of] stealing a deer or an elephant [a man will be reborn as] a wolf, for stealing a horse, [as] a tiger, for stealing fruit and roots, a monkey, for kidnapping a woman, a bear, for stealing water a black-white cuckoo, for stealing vehicles a camel, for stealing cattle a he-goat.

##### Declension

* ¹Vedic

##### Descendants

* Pali: ibha
* Prakrit: 𑀇𑀪 (ibha), 𑀇𑀳 (iha)

### References

* Monier Williams (1899) “इभ”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 167, column 3.
* Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “इभ”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan, page 387
* Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2025) “ibha”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.
* Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992) “íbha-”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎ (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 194
* Mayrhofer, Manfred (2001) “ibha-”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎ (in German), volume 3, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 28
* Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “ibha”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 71
* Arthur Berriedale Keith, Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1912) “ibha”, in Vedic index of names and subjects, volume 1, London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, W. [Published for the Government of India], →OCLC, page 79