Etymology

pranayama

pra·na·ya·ma
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Today it means: Breathing techniques; breath control, often synchronized with movements between asanas in yoga. Full definition →

Sanskrit प्राणायाम
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The story

  1. Sanskrit · derived fromप्राणायाम
  2. English todaypranayama

From Sanskrit प्राणायाम (prāṇāyāma), from प्राण (prāṇá, “life force, vital energy, the breath”) (whence also English prana) + आयाम (āyāma, “lengthening, extending, stretching”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.