พระ

Thai

Alternative forms

• (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Khmer ព្រ (bra) or Angkorian Old Khmer ព្រះ (braḥ), ព្រះហ៑ (braḥh), ព្រហ៑ (brah, literally “distinguished; divine; excellent; holy; sacred; superior; etc”), likely from Sanskrit वर (vara, “best; excellent; foremost; holy; precious; top; valuable; etc”); see Khmer ព្រះ (prĕəh) for more.

Compare Old Khmer វ្រះ (vraḥ), វ្រះហ៑ (vraḥh), វ្រហ៑ (vrah), វ្រហ្ហ៑ (vrahh), វ្រាអះ (vrāʼaḥ), ព្រា (brā); Angkorian Old Khmer វ្រះ (vraḥ), វ្រះហ (vraḥha), វ្រះហ៑ (vraḥh), វ្រហ៑ (vrah), វ្រស៑ (vras), វ្រាះ (vrāḥ).

Cognate with Modern Khmer ព្រះ (prĕəh), Lao ພະ (pha), ພຣະ (pha ra), Northern Thai ᨻᩕ, Lü ᦘᦰ (ph!), Shan ၽြႃး (phráa). Compare also Burmese ဘုရား (bhu.ra:), Old Javanese phra, Javanese bra. Doublet of พร (pɔɔn) and วร (wɔɔn) via Sanskrit.

Pronunciation

Orthographic		พระ b r a
Phonemic		พฺระ b ̥ r a
Romanization	Paiboon	prá
	Royal Institute	phra
(standard) IPA(key)		/pʰraʔ˦˥/(R)

Noun

พระ • (prá)

1. god, deity; priest, royal person; also used as an honorific or term of address.
   • 1 Chronicles 10:10, KJV:

     เขาเอาเครื่องอาวุธของพระองค์ไปไว้ในวิหารพระของเขา

     kǎo ao krʉ̂ʉang-aa-wút kɔ̌ɔng prá-ong bpai wái nai wí-hǎan prá kɔ̌ɔng kǎo

     And they put his armour in the house of their gods,

   • เจ้าฟ้าธรรมธิเบศไชยเชษฐ์สุริยวงศ์, กาพย์เห่เรือ:

     พระเสด็จโดยแดนชล

     prá sà-dèt dooi dɛɛn chon

     He [the king] travels by water.

2. representation, as image, statue, sculpture, etc, of such person.
3. used as an honorific for or term of address to anyone or anything relating to a god, deity, priest, or royal person, or to a representation of such person.
4. (historical) the Thai noble rank above หลวง (lǔuang) and below พระยา (prá-yaa); holder of this rank.
5. male protagonist, as in a literary work, drama, etc.

Usage notes

When used as the honorific according to the third definition, the term may be combined with other terms to form more elegancy. Examples are:

Terms	Literal meaning	Application			Notes
		Gods	High priests	Royals
พระบรมมหาราช (prá-bɔɔ-rom-má-hǎa-râat-chá-)	sacred, supreme, great, royal				For monarchs
พระบรม (prá-bɔɔ-rom-má-)	sacred, supreme				For monarchs
พระบรมราช (prá-bɔɔ-rom-má-râat-chá-)	sacred, supreme, royal				For monarchs
พระบวร (prá-bɔɔ-wɔɔ-rá-)	sacred, exalted				For princes of the Front Palace
พระบวรราช (prá-bɔɔ-wɔɔ-rá-râat-chá)	sacred, exalted, royal				For princes of the Front Palace
พระปรม (prá-bpɔɔ-rá-má-)	sacred, supreme				For monarchs
พระพุทธ (prá-pút-tá-)	sacred, Buddhist				For Buddhas and Buddhist high priests
พระมหา (prá-má-hǎa-)	sacred, great
พระมหาราช (prá-má-hǎa-râat-chá-)	sacred, great, royal
พระมหาสมณ (prá-má-hǎa-sà-má-ná-)	sacred, great, ecclesiastical
พระราช (prá-râat-chá-)	sacred, royal				For high-ranking royals
พระวร (prá-wɔɔ-rá-)	sacred, excellent				For high-ranking royals
พระสมณ (prá-sà-má-ná-)	sacred, ecclesiastical
พระสุร (prá-sù-rá-)	sacred, celestial				For high-ranking royals

See also

• (noble ranks) บรรดาศักดิ์ (ban-daa-sàk); สมเด็จเจ้าพระยา (sǒm-dèt-jâao-prá-yaa), เจ้าพระยา (jâao-prá-yaa), พระยา (prá-yaa), พระ (prá), หลวง (lǔuang), ขุน (kǔn), หมื่น (mʉ̀ʉn), พัน (pan), นาย (naai) ^{(Category: Thai noble ranks)}