Etymograph

English

ahimsa

Ahimsa comes from Sanskrit अहिंसा ‘harmlessness’, from हिंसा ‘injury, mischief, wrong, harm, hurt’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- ‘wound, thrust’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰey-‘wound, thrust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeys-‘fright’reconstructedextension of *ǵʰey-
  3. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEहिंसा‘injury, mischief, wrong, harm, hurt’
  4. Sanskrit, derivedc. 1500–500 BCEअहिंसा‘harmlessness’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2006ahimsa

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰey-‘wound, thrust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeys-‘fright’reconstructedextension of *ǵʰey-
  3. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEहिंसा‘injury, mischief, wrong, harm, hurt’
  4. Sanskrit, derivedc. 1500–500 BCEअहिंसा‘harmlessness’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2006ahimsa

Earliest quotation: 2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation: “Already, at this very early date, the ritualists were…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- ‘wound, thrust’

hibernation, goad, hibernate, chimera, 13 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeys- ‘fright’

gore

Today it means

noun A doctrine of non-violence, concerned with the sacredness of all living things and an effort to avoid causing harm to them.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- / ahimsa

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