होतृ [ hotṛ ] [ hótṛ ] m. ( fr. √ 1. [ hu ] ) an offerer of an oblation or burnt-offering (with fire) , sacrificer , priest , (esp.) a priest who at a sacrifice invokes the gods or recites the Ṛig-veda , a Ṛig-veda priest (one of the 4 kinds of officiating priest see [ ṛtvij ] , p.224; properly the Hotṛi priest has 3 assistants , sometimes called Purushas , viz. the Maitrā-varuṇa , Acchā-vāka , and Grāvastut ; to these are sometimes added three others , the Brāhmaṇācchaṃsin , Agnīdhra or Agnīdh , and Potṛi , though these last are properly assigned to the Brāhman priest ; sometimes the Neshṭṛi is substituted for the Grāva-stut) Lit. RV.

N. of Śiva Lit. MBh.

[ hotṛ ] m. f. n. one who sacrifices (gen. or comp.) , sacrificer Lit. Mn. Lit. MBh.