prakrit

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

Prakrit
    n 1: any of the modern Indic languages
    2: any of the vernacular Indic languages of north and central
       India (as distinguished from Sanskrit) recorded from the 3rd
       century BC to the 4th century AD

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Prakrit \Pra"krit\, n. [Skr. pr[=a]k[.r]ta original, natural,
   usual, common, vulgar.]
   Any one of the popular dialects descended from, or akin to,
   Sanskrit; -- in distinction from the Sanskrit, which was used
   as a literary and learned language when no longer spoken by
   the people. Pali is one of the Prakrit dialects.
   [1913 Webster]