mahawat

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*meh₁-“to measure”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*méǵh₂s“big, great”
3. Sanskrit · derived fromमहामात्र“elephant keeper; high official; king’s minister”
4. Hindi · borrowed fromमहावत“elephant keeper”
5. English todaymahawat

PIE word *méǵh₂s Borrowed from Hindi महावत (mahāvat, “elephant keeper”), from Sanskrit महामात्र (mahāmātra, “elephant keeper; high official; king’s minister”), from महा (mahā, “great”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”)) + मात्र (mātra, “measure; quantity”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”)).

Words from the same roots