What is the meaning of the Sanskrit word 'sruta' श्रुत?

Answer 1

sruta (also can be written as shruta) श्रुतmeans 'heard' in English.

When referring to a word in Sanskrit it is useful to speak along with the gender. Now there are niyata-li~Nga [नियतलिङ्ग] words i.e words with their genders pre-fixed. like patnI पत्नी (feminine gender) dArAH दाराः (masculine gender) and kalatram कलत्रम (Neuter gender) all the three meaning the same i.e. wife! In Sanskrit it must be remembered that the gender of a word does not always depend upon its "meaning". Remember a word and its meaning are inseparable वागर्थविव सम्पृक्त्तौ..., but not so about the gender and meaning.

But there are words the majority of them which are अनियतलिङ्ग without prefixed gender. This is true of all the "manufactured words are the so called yogarUDha shabdani योगरूढ शब्दानि. One example of that is this very word 'श्रुत'

Thus it makes sense to see the word as श्रुतः/श्रुता/श्रुतम् ... "That which is heard" or when used as a participle in a sentence:

saH shrutaH स: श्रुतः (He has heard), sA shrutA सा श्रुता (She has heard) and so on.

Now, the beauty of the participle (and it is true of English too) is that one could form the Passive Voice also with this, as in mayA shrutam मया श्रुतम (It was heard by me), sA mayA shrutA सा मया श्रुता (She has been heard by me) and so on.

shrutam श्रुतम has another meaning like one's education,as in the shloka श्लोक:

kanyA kaamayate rupam, mAtA vittaM pitA shrutam|

bandhujanAH kulamicChanti, subhojyaM tu purajanAH

कन्या कामयते रूपम, माता वित्तम पिता श्रुतम|

बन्धुजनाः कुलमिcछन्ति, सुभोज्यम तु पुरजनाः

It means [In a marriage alliance] the girl in question looks for handsomeness, the girl's mother looks for the grooms financial standing, the Father of the girl is concerned about his education(shrutam श्रुतम).

Answer 2

The Sanskrit word 'śruta' (श्रुत) translates to 'heard' or 'related to hearing'. It is related to the act of listening or learning through oral transmission in ancient Indian traditions such as the Vedas.