mahout

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. Urdu · borrowed fromمَہَوت
5. Hindi · borrowed fromमहौत
6. English todaymahout

PIE word *méǵh₂s The noun is borrowed from Hindustani (Hindi महौत (mahaut)/Urdu مَہَوت (mahaut)), महाउत (mahāut), variants of महावत (mahāvat)/مَہاوَت (mahāvat), 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”)). The verb is derived from the noun.

Words from the same roots