*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Indic

Etymology tree the BMAC substratebor.? Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš ▲ Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš Sanskrit सिन्धु॑ (síndhu)bor. Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 (hiⁿdūš)bor. Ancient Greek Ἰνδός (Indós) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Prot

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
adj

Relating to or denoting the group of Indo-European languages comprising Sanskrit and the modern Indian languages which are its descendants. · Relating to the Brahmic scripts. · Pertaining to India or its people, culture and languages; Indian.

name

A branch of the Indo-European family of languages comprising Sanskrit and its modern descendants such as Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree the BMAC substratebor.? Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš ▲ Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš Sanskrit सिन्धु॑ (síndhu)bor. Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 (hiⁿdūš)bor. Ancient Greek Ἰνδός (Indós) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek Ἰνδία (Indía) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós) Ancient Greek Ἰνδικός (Indikós)bor. Latin Indicusbor. English Indic From Latin Indicus from Ancient Greek Ἰνδικός (Indikós), from Ἰνδία (Indía) + -ικός (-ikós). By surface analysis, India + -ic. Doublet of indigo.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "la:Indicus",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nthe BMAC substratebor.?\nProto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš\n▲\nProto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš\nSanskrit सिन्धु॑ (síndhu)bor.\nOld Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 (hiⁿdūš)bor.\nAncient Greek Ἰνδός (Indós)\nProto-Indo-European *-h₂\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₂\nProto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂\nProto-Hellenic *-íā\nAncient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā)\nAncient Greek Ἰνδία (Indía)\nProto-Indo-European *-kos\nProto-Hellenic *-kos\nAncient Greek -κός (-kós)\nAncient Greek -ικός (-ikós)\nAncient Greek Ἰνδικός (Indikós)bor.\nLatin Indicusbor.\nEnglish Indic\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"Indus\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"India\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"river\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"lang_name\" : \"the BMAC substrate\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang\" : \"qsb-bma\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-Iranian\", \"term\" : \"*síndʰuš\", \"gloss\" : \"river; stream\", \"lang\" : \"iir-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" }, { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"river\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"is_duplicate\" : true, \"children\" : [ ], \"id\" : \"river\", \"status\" : { \"1\" : \"iir-pro\", \"2\" : \":bor<unc>\", \"3\" : \"qsb-bma:-\", \"id\" : \"river\" }, \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-Iranian\", \"term\" : \"*síndʰuš\", \"lang\" : \"iir-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Sanskrit\", \"term\" : \"सिन्धु॑\", \"gloss\" : \"river; stream\", \"lang\" : \"sa\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"transliteration\" : \"hi<sup>n<\\/sup>dūš\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old Persian\", \"term\" : \"𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁\", \"lang\" : \"peo\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"Ἰνδός\", \"gloss\" : \"the Indus river\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" }, { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*-i-eh₂\", \"id\" : \"i-extension\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"o-grade\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"collective nouns\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-h₂\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-éh₂\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-éh₂\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Hellenic\", \"term\" : \"*-íā\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"grk-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"-ῐ́ᾱ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"Ἰνδία\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" }, { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"adjectives\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-kos\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Hellenic\", \"term\" : \"*-kos\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"grk-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"-κός\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"-ικός\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"Ἰνδικός\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"Indicus\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"Indic\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"Indic\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "Indicus"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin Indicus"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "Ἰνδικός"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek Ἰνδικός (Indikós)"
    },
    {
      "name": "af",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "Ἰνδία",
        "3": "-ικός",
        "nocat": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Ἰνδία (Indía) + -ικός (-ikós)"
    },
    {
      "name": "surf",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "India",
        "3": "-ic"
      },
      "expansion": "By surface analysis, India + -ic"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "indigo"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of indigo"
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "la:Indicus",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nthe BMAC substratebor.?\nProto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš\n▲\nProto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš\nSanskrit सिन्धु॑ (síndhu)bor.\nOld Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 (hiⁿdūš)bor.\nAncient Greek Ἰνδός (Indós)\nProto-Indo-European *-h₂\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₂\nProto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂\nProto-Hellenic *-íā\nAncient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā)\nAncient Greek Ἰνδία (Indía)\nProto-Indo-European *-kos\nProto-Hellenic *-kos\nAncient Greek -κός (-kós)\nAncient Greek -ικός (-ikós)\nAncient Greek Ἰνδικός (Indikós)bor.\nLatin Indicusbor.\nEnglish Indic"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*síndʰuš",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/síndʰuš#Proto-Indo-Iranian:_river"
    ],
    [
      "*síndʰuš",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/síndʰuš#Proto-Indo-Iranian:_river"
    ],
    [
      "सिन्धु॑",
      "सिन्धु#Sanskrit:_river"
    ],
    [
      "𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁",
      "𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁#Old_Persian:_India"
    ],
    [
      "Ἰνδός",
      "Ἰνδός#Ancient_Greek:_Indus"
    ],
    [
      "*-h₂",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-h₂#Proto-Indo-European:_collective_nouns"
    ],
    [
      "*-éh₂",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-éh₂#Proto-Indo-European:_o-grade"
    ],
    [
      "*-i-eh₂",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-éh₂#Proto-Indo-European:_i-extension"
    ],
    [
      "*-íā",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Hellenic/-íā"
    ],
    [
      "-ῐ́ᾱ",
      "-ία#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "Ἰνδία",
      "Ἰνδία#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "*-kos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-kos#Proto-Indo-European:_adjectives"
    ],
    [
      "*-kos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Hellenic/-kos"
    ],
    [
      "-κός",
      "-κός#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "-ικός",
      "-ικός#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "Ἰνδικός",
      "Ἰνδικός#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "Indicus",
      "Indicus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "Indicus",
      "Indicus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "Ἰνδικός",
      "Ἰνδικός#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "Ἰνδία",
      "Ἰνδία#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "-ικός",
      "-ικός#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "India",
      "India#English"
    ],
    [
      "-ic",
      "-ic#English"
    ],
    [
      "indigo",
      "indigo#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Relating to or denoting the group of Indo-European languages comprising Sanskrit and the modern Indian languages which are its descendants.",
        "Relating to the Brahmic scripts.",
        "Pertaining to India or its people, culture and languages; Indian."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "1d979c6ff69ac339db7aa6fc107951c677050f4d2b55d79447255d26c89e562b",
      "rawRecordSha256": "f8cdf6055aeb9522f15d6d98b6615ae92a7df158484eac11c2341c812912521d",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 460963
    },
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A branch of the Indo-European family of languages comprising Sanskrit and its modern descendants such as Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi."
      ],
      "tags": [],
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      "rawRecordSha256": "420a77fca81b4820fa0fde974c5d33716c751629a79c7803fd8c3ad1e413e850",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 460964
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Indic →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-SW5kaWM