Etymology

Arachosia

A1R1A1C3H4O1S1I1A1

Today it means: An ancient Achaemenid and Seleucid satrapy in the eastern part of their respective empires, around modern-day southern Afghanistan. Full definition →

Latin Arachōsia ← Ancient Greek Ἀραχωσία ← Proto-Iranian *hárahwatiH
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-Iranian · derived from*SáraswatiH
  2. Proto-Iranian · derived from*hárahwatiH
  3. Ancient Greek · derived fromἈραχωσία
  4. Latin · borrowed fromArachōsia
  5. English todayArachosia

From Latin Arachōsia, from Ancient Greek Ἀραχωσία (Arakhōsía), a borrowing from the Iranian language of that region; ultimately from Proto-Iranian *hárahwatiH, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *SáraswatiH. Compare the Old Persian name of the place: 𐏃𐎼𐎢𐎺𐎫𐎡𐏁 (h-r-u-v-t-i-š /⁠harauvatiš⁠/, literally “rich in waters/lakes”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.