Etymograph

English

lamaserai

Lamaserai comes from French lamaserie ‘lamasery’, and goes back to lama.

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presentlama
  2. French, derivedc. 1600–presentlamaserie‘lamasery’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1915lamaserai

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history not traced here.

Lineage

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presentlama
  2. French, derivedc. 1600–presentlamaserie‘lamasery’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1915lamaserai

Earliest quotation: 1915, Lord Dunsany [i.e., How the Enemy Came to Thlunrana: “Meanwhile Thlunrana, that secret lamaserai, that chief cathedral of…”

A compound of lama + serai

Tibetan བླ་མ ‘lama - an accomplished spiritual teacher, guru’

English lama

Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- ‘to cross over’

…

Proto-Iranian *thrāya ‘to protect’

Old Persian *srāda

Middle Persian slʾd ‘hall, house’

Persian سرای ‘courtyard’

English serai

Every English word from French lama

Today it means

noun —

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

Etymograph / French lama / lamaserai

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