India

Meaning & origin /ˈɪndiːə/

Inherited from Old English India, Indea, from Latin India, from Ancient Greek Ἰνδία (Indía), from Ancient Greek Ἰνδός (Indós, “Indus river”), from Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 (hindūš), from Sanskrit सिन्धु (sindhu), ultimately from Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš (“river”). Compare Middle English Inde and Ynde from Old French Ynde (original form started to prevail in the 16th century), Classical Persian هند (hind, “India”), Sanskrit सिन्धु (síndhu, “a river, stream”). Doublet of Indus, Sindhu, Hindu, and Sindh.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.