अपभ्रंशः _apabhraṃśḥ

अपभ्रंशः 1 Falling down or away, a fall; अत्यारूढि- र्भवति महतामप्यपभ्रंशनिष्ठा Ś.4 v. l. ending in a (preci- pitate) fall.

-2 A corrupted word, corruption; घर is an अपभ्रंश or corruption of गृह; (hence) an incorrect word whether formed against the rules of grammar or used in a sense not strictly Sanskrit; see अपशब्द.

-3 A corrupt language, one of the lowest forms of the Prākṛita dialect used by cow-herds &c. (in kāvyas); (in Śāstras) any language other than Sans- krit; आभीरादिगिरः काव्येष्वपभ्रंश इति स्मृताः । शास्त्रेषु संस्कृतादन्य- दपभ्रंशतयोदितम् ॥ Kāv.1.