n. In Skt. gram., the changing of i and ī to ē, u and ū to ō, ri and rī to ar, by compounding them with a prefixed â—that is, â + i = ē, and so on. The term is also sometimes used in regard to similar changes in other languages.n. In the Sankhya philos. of India, one of the three constituents of the primal matter out of which the world is evolved. See the extract.