English Words of Sanskrit Origin
Root of English words from Sanskrit illustrated using root-words and words in their purer forms. There will be no need to demonstrate every inflected form of a word.
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"
- 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";
- 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 Irish brita — "birth"; Skt. bhri — "to bear, carry away, endure"
- brother, brotherhood
- L. frater; Skt. bhraathra — "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"
- 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"
- cow
- Old Saxon co; Low German ko; Skt. go — "cow"
- create
- L. creare/creatum — "bring about something"; Skt. kri — "make, accomplish, cause, effect, bring to completion"
D
- decade, decagon, decimal, december
- Gr. deka; Skt. dasha — "ten"
- diamond
- Fr. diamant, L. adamantem — "the hardest metal," later, "diamond"; Skt. adaman — "unyielding"
- door
- Skt. dur — "door"
E
- equal
- L. aequus — "that which is the same"; Skt. eka — "the same, equal"
F
G
- geometry
- Skt. gy — "earth", miti — "parametre"
H
- harry, harass
- Eng. harry — "plunder; devastation", harass; Skt. hara — "destroying", haarya — "be robbed"
- heart
- Skt. harda — "heart"
I
J
- jungle
- Skt. jangala — "any wild or uncultivated land"
K
L
M
- mind, mental, mint
- L. mens, mentis — "think"; Skt. manas — "mind"
- mantra
- Skt. mantra — "incantation, song, a repeated word"
- man
- Skt. manu — "the father of mankind"
- measure, meter, metric
- L. metiri/mensus — "measure"; Skt. maa — "measure, compare", maatra — "measure"
- mouse
- Skt. mus — "rat or mouse"
N
- navy, navigate, nautical
- Skt. nau — "ship", navya
- nine, november, novena
- Eng. november — "the ninth month of a previous calendar", novena — "a nine-day devotional with prayers"; Skt. ava — "nine", navan
- novelty, novice, innovate, renovate
- Gr. neos; L. novus; Italy neos; Skt. nava — "new"
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"
P
- penta, pentagon
- Eng. pentagon — "five-sided figure"; Gr. penta — "five" Skt. pancha — "five", kon — "angle"
- pepper
- L. piperi; Skt. pippali — "a long pepper"
- peri- (prefix)
- Skt. pari (prefix) — "about, near"
- path
- Skt. patha — "path"
- 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
- Skt. sama — "same"
- samsara
- Skt. samsAra — "passing through"
- sandal
- Skt. candanam — "sandalwood"
- sandhi
- Skt. samdhih — "a wide variety of phonological processes"
- 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"
- septe-
- Eng. september — "month of seven", septennial — "every seven years"; Skt. saptan — "seven"
- 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"
- 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"
T
- that
- Skt. tat — "that"
- thou, thee
- L. tu/te/tua; Fr. toi; Skt. tva — "you"
- three, triple
- Skt. tri — "three"
- trigonometry
- Skt. tri — "three", kona — "corner, angle, intermediate point of a compass", miti — "parametre"
U
V
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"
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