The story
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep-
- Proto-Indo-Iranian*Hā́ps
- Proto-Iranian*Hā́fš
- Old Persian𐎠𐎱𐎡𐎹𐎠 (a-p-i-y-a)
- Middle Persianʾp̄
- Classical Persianآب (āb)
- Proto-Indo-European*pénkʷe
- Proto-Indo-Iranian*pánča
- Proto-Iranian*pánča
- Classical Persianپنج
- Sanskritपञ्चनद (pañcanada)
- Classical Persianپَنْجَاب (panjāb)
- Punjabiਪੰਜਾਬ /پنجاب (pañjāb)
- English todayPunjab
From Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬ / پنجاب (pañjāb), from Classical Persian پَنْجَاب (panjāb, “[Land of] the Five Rivers”), from پَنْج (panj, “five”) and آب (āb, “water”), referring to five rivers of the Punjab region: the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Sutlej and the Beas. The Persian term is a calque of Sanskrit पञ्चनद (pañcanada, “[Land of] the Five Rivers”), from पञ्च (pañca, “five”) and नद (nada, “river”). Related to punch (“beverage made of mixed fruit juice”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.