English words of Sanskrit origin
Sanskrit is the primary ancient language spoken in most part of the world including Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe. Later it evolved into early languages such as Prakrit, Pali, old Tamil, Persian, Greek, Latin, Javanese, Sumerian and old Chinese. The modern languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Arab, Hebrew, Thai, Malay, Tagalog, Korean, Chinese, English, German, French, Russian and many others are of recent offshoot of these early languages.
In this page we will decipher the root of English words from Sanskrit. It has to be noted that many of these English words may have its origin from the early Latin and Greek languages which is also of the same Sanskrit root. Later in the recent history, the English language has included many loan words from various modern languages.
Note: In Sanskrit and classical Latin, v is sometimes pronounced as w, while the opposite is true in German. In Slavic languages, both letters are interchangeable. D's and T's are interchangeable. Similarly, at times, B=P=F=V.
A
- a-, an- (prefix)
- Skt. a — "not, without"
- anonymous
- Ger. anonymos; Skt. anamika — "anonymous"
- ardent, arson
- Eng. ardent — "strongly emotional about"; L. ardere/arsi — "be violently enraged, passionate / (countries), be in turmoil, at war"; Skt. ard — "make agitated, torment, kill";
- aryan
- Skt. ārya — "noble one, respected one";
- axis
- Ger. axon; Skt. aksha — "axis"
- avatar
- Eng. avatar; Skt. avatara — "incarnations or descent" (of a deity to the earth in incarnate form)
B
- band, bandage
- Skt. bandh — "bind around"
- barber, barbarian
- Skt. barbara — "barbarian, one with long hair"
- bear, birth, infer
- L. ferre — "bear"; Old Ir. brita — "birth"; Skt. bhri — "to bear, carry away, endure"
- brother, brotherhood
- Ger. phrater; Skt. bhrathr — "brother, fraternity"
C
- candle, chandelier, incendiary, incandescent, incensed
- L. candere — "shine, be hot", incendere/incensum — "burn, inflame emotions"; Skt. chand — "shine, be bright"
- car, chariot, carry
- Skt. chakra — "wheel", car — "go, move, travel through", carya — "driving in a carriage"
- calendar
- L. kalendae; Skt. kaal — "time"
- cent, century, centime
- L. centum; Skt. shatam — "hundred"
- conner, -gon
- Eng. -gon, as in octagon, polygon — "figures which have corners and angles"; Gr. gonos/gonon, "-angled"; Skt. kona — "corner, angle, intermediate point of a compass"
- cheetah
- Eng. — "leopard"; Hin. chita; Skt. chitraka — "to be speckled"
- committee
- L. committere; Skt. samiti — "committee"
- cough
- L. coughen; Skt. kapha — "mucus"
- cow
- Old Saxon co; Low German ko; Skt. gau — "cow"
- create
- L. creare/creatum — "bring about something"; Skt. kri — "make, accomplish, cause, effect, bring to completion"
D
- daughter
- Skt. duhitr — "daughter"
- deca, decade, decagon, decimal, december
- Gr. deka; Skt. dasha — "ten"
- dental
- Skt. dantam — "teeth"
- diamond
- Fr. diamant, L. adamantem — "the hardest metal," later, "diamond"; Skt. adaman — "unyielding"
- domicile
- L. domus; Skt. dhama — "house"
- door
- Skt. dwar — "door"
E
- eight
- Skt. ashta — "eight"
- equal
- L. aequus — "that which is the same"; Skt. eka — "the same, equal"
F
- father
- L. pater; Skt. pithr — "father"
G
- gene
- Ger. genea — "gene"; Skt. jan — "generation"
- geometry
- Skt. gy — "earth", miti — "parametre"
- ghee
- Skt. ghritam — "ghee"
H
- harry, harass
- Eng. harry — "plunder; devastation", harass; Skt. hara — "destroying", haarya — "be robbed"
- heart
- Skt. hrt — "heart"
I
- ignite
- L. ignis; Skt. agni — "fire"
- interim
- Skt. antarim — "meanwhile"
J
- juvenile
- L. juvenilis; Skt. yauvana — "youth"
- jungle
- Skt. jangala — "any wild or uncultivated land"
K
L
- locale, location
- L. locus; Skt. loka — "place"
M
- me
- L. me; Skt. ma — "me / my"
- mega
- L. magnus; Skt. maha — "great"
- mind, mental
- L. mens, mentis — "think"; Skt. manas — "mind"
- mal-
- as in malicious, malnutrition L. malus; Skt. mala — "dirt, bad"
- mantra
- Skt. mantra — "incantation, song, a repeated word"
- man, men, human
- Skt. manu — "the father of mankind"
- measure, meter, metric
- L. metiri/mensus — "measure"; Skt. maa — "measure, compare", maatra — "measure"
- medium
- L. medium; Skt. madhyam — "medium"
- mix
- L. mixtus; Skt. mishra — "mix"
- mosquito
- L. musca — "fly"; Skt. makshikaa — "bee"
- mother
- L. mater — "mother"; Skt. matr — "mother"
- mouse
- Skt. mus — "rat or mouse"
- murder
- L. mortis; Skt. mrta — "dead"
- myth
- Ger. mythos; Skt. mithya — "lie"
N
- name
- L. nomen; Skt. naama — "name"
- navy, navigate, nautical
- Skt. nau — "ship", navya
- nerve, nervous
- L. nervus; Skt. nara — "nerve"
- new, novelty, novice, innovate, renovate
- Gr. neos; L. novus; Italy neos; Skt. nava — "new"
- nine, november, novena
- Eng. november — "the ninth month of a previous calendar", novena — "a nine-day devotional with prayers"; Skt. ava — "nine", navan
- no
- L. ne; Skt. na — "no"
- nose
- L. nasus; Skt. naas — "nose"
- navigation
- L. navigationem; Skt. navagatha — "navigation"
O
- octet, octopus
- L. octo; Ger. acht; Skt. asta — "eight"
- octagon
- L. octo; Ger. acht; Skt. asta — "eight", kona — "corner, angle, intermediate point of a compass"
- orange
- Skt. narangi — "orange"
P
- path
- Skt. patha — "path"
- ped-
- as in pedestrial, pedal L. pedis; Skt. paad — "foot"
- penta, pentagon
- Eng. pentagon — "five-sided figure"; Gr. pente — "five" Skt. pancha — "five", kon — "angle"
- pepper
- L. piperi; Skt. pippali — "a long pepper"
- per
- L. per; Skt. prati — "every"
- percent
- L. per centum; Skt. prati shat — "every hundred"
- peri- (prefix)
- Skt. pari (prefix) — "about, near"
- pundit
- Skt. pandita — "learned man, scholar"
- pre- (prefix)
- Skt. pra (prefix) — "before, in front of"
Q
- quarter, quaternary, quadrate
- Eng. quattor (quarter — "a fourth", quaternary — "in fours", quadrate — "four-sided"); Skt. catur — "four"
R
S
- sadhu
- Skt. sādhu — "well and good"
- salon, saloon
- Fr. salle — "saloon" Skt. shaalaa (prefix) — "large room"
- samadhi
- Skt. samadhi — "putting together"
- sambal
- Mal. sambal — ""; Tam. sambal — ""; Skt. sambhārei — ""
- sambar
- Skt. śambarah — "a kind of Asian deer"
- same, similar
- Skt. sama — "same"
- samsara
- Skt. samsAra — "passing through"
- sandal
- Skt. candanam — "sandalwood"
- sandhi
- Skt. samdhih — "a wide variety of phonological processes"
- sandlewood
- L. santalon; Skt. chandana — "sandlewood"
- sangha
- Skt. sangha — "a community of monks and nuns"
- sanskrit
- Skt. samskrtam — "put together, well-formed"
- sapphire
- L. sapphirus; Gr. sappheiros; Skt. sanipriya — ""
- sari
- Hin. sari; Pkt. sadi; Skt. sati — "garment"
- satyagraha
- Skt. satyagraha — "insisting on truth"
- sattva
- Skt. sattvah — "truth"
- status, state
- Skt. staana — "status"
- sister
- Skt. svasar — "sister"
- seven, septe-
- Eng. september — "month of seven", septennial — "every seven years"; Skt. sapta — "seven"
- serpent
- L. serpentem; Skt. sarpa — "snake"
- shampoo
- Hin. champo; Skt. capayati — "kneads"
- sine
- L. sinus - "a bay or a cove"; Ar. jiba - "a bay or a cove"; Skt. jya
- some
- Skt. sama — "any, every"
- son
- Ger. sunu; Skt. sunu — "son or offspring"
- smile
- Skt. smi — "smile"
- stupa
- Skt. stūpah — "crown of the head"
- sudra
- Skt. śūdrah — ""
- sugar, saccharin, sucrose
- Mid. L. succarum; Ar. sukkar; Pr. shakar; Skt. sharkara — "ground or candied sugar"
- sulfur
- L. sulfur; Skt. sulvari — ""
- sutra
- Skt. sutram — "a rule"
- swastika
- Skt. svastika — "one associated with well-being, a lucky charm"
- sweet
- L. suavis; Skt. svaad — "tasty"
T
- they
- L. dei; Skt. they — "they"
- that
- Skt. tat — "that"
- thou, thee
- L. tu/te/tua; Fr. toi; Skt. tva — "you"
- three, triple
- Skt. tri — "three"
- thug
- Skt. sthaga — "cunning, fraudulent, conceal"
- trigonometry
- Skt. tri — "three", kona — "corner, angle, intermediate point of a compass", miti — "parametre"
U
V
- voice
- L. vocem; Skt. vachas — "speech"
- vomit
- L. vomere; Skt. vamati — "vomit"
W
X
Y
- yoga
- Skt. yoga — "yoke, union"
- yogi
- Skt. yogi — "one who practices yoga or ascetic"
- yoke, join
- Skt. yuj — "yoke, join, bind"
- young, juvenile
- Skt. yu — "young", yuvan — "young"
References
Bibliography
1. Vedabase.io — Online multilingual research tool
See also
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