Word Meaning
काटा
kāṭā
Meaning
Spent or passed (time, life, or suffering), usually with enduring pain.
Detailed Meaning
In this couplet by Mir Taqi Mir, the word 'काटा' refers to spending or passing one's youth under great distress and weeping. It evokes the arduous endurance of time, likening a painful youth to a long, sleepless night that had to be somehow survived. Beyond literal cutting, in Urdu-Hindi idiom it signifies weathering a phase of hardship.
Etymology
Sanskrit कृत्यते / कर्तयति (kṛtyate / kartayati - to cut), evolved through Prakrit into Hindi-Urdu 'काटना' (to cut, slice, and idiomatically to spend time/endure).
Usage
In classical Urdu poetry, 'वक़्त काटना' or 'उम्र काटना' often implies reluctantly enduring a painful life or an unbearable night of separation.
Examples
I passed the night of separation counting the stars.
He endured a whole lifetime in sorrow and longing.