Etymology

Lahore

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Today it means: The second largest city of Pakistan and the provincial capital of Punjab; located on the Ravi river. Full definition →

Urdu لاہَور ← Punjabi لوہار ← Sanskrit रवावर
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The story

  1. Sanskrit · derived fromरवावर
  2. Punjabi · derived fromلوہار“blacksmith”
  3. Urdu · borrowed fromلاہَور
  4. English todayLahore

Borrowed from Urdu لاہَور (lāhaur), further etymology is disputed. There are multiple interpretations of this name's origin: * A legend claims it to be from Sanskrit लव (lava, “Lava”) + पुर (pura, “fortress; city”), literally “city of Lava”, from Ramayana, a Hindu epic. * From Punjabi لوہار (lohār, “blacksmith”) / ਲੋਹਾਰ (lohār), ਲੁਹਾਰ (luhār). * Corruption of Sanskrit रवावर (ravāvara), ultimately from इरावती (irāvatī, “the Ravi River”). The earlier Persian variants of the name include لہاور (lahāvar /⁠lhavr⁠/), لوہاور (lūhāvar /⁠lvhavr⁠/) and لہانور (luhanvar /⁠lhanvr⁠/), among others. Further see Etymology of Lahore.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.