Words with Sanskrit origins

You must’ve heard the phrase “Sanskrit is the mother of all languages,” but did you know how many words we use today are borrowed from it directly or via other languages that took inspiration from it? Here’s the tea.

First is thugs - it’s directly taken from the Hindi thug used to describe the thugee i.e. theives & swindlers found in the ports of India when we were a trading hub. But thug also derives from Sanskrit Stagathi i.e. to cover or conceal.

Second is juggernaut which is used to describe strong & unstoppable people. Its roots are in our Jagannatha, which means the all-powerful divine Lord of the Universe - the British saw our Jagannatha yatra & got inspired.

Third is cheetah, coming from Hindi chita, borrowing from the Sanskrit chitraka i.e. one with unique spots. Even jungle comes from jāṅgala which means a rough terrain.

Fourth, sugar comes via the French sucre & Persian shakar which derive from once again Sanskrit sharkara, and even shampoo coming from the Hindi campo, (pronounced champo) deriving from the Sanskarit chapayati i.e. to press or knead.

Also on a related note, a fun fact I came across, Rabindranath Tagore’s real surname was actually Thakur but since the British couldn’t pronounce it, the anglicized it like so many other words.