The story
- Classical Persian · derived fromتر“humid”
- Sanskrit · derived fromतल“level”
- Proto-Indo-Aryan · derived from*taras“plain, plateau”
- Prakrit · derived from*तलघट्टिका-
- Urdu · borrowed fromترائی“marsh, foothills”
- Hindi · borrowed fromतराई
- Nepali · borrowed fromतराइ
- English todayterai
Borrowed from Nepali तराइ (tarāi) and/or Hindustani (Hindi तराई (tarāī) / Urdu ترائی (tarāī, “marsh, foothills”)), from Prakrit *तलघट्टिका- (*talaghaṭṭikā-), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-Aryan *taras (“plain, plateau”), possibly related to Sanskrit तल (tala, “level”); cognate to Nepali तराइ (tarāi). Possibly later associated with Classical Persian تر (tar, “humid”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.