Etymograph

English

brahmana

Brahmana comes from Sanskrit ब्राह्मण ‘relating to or given by a Brahmin, befitting…’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerǵʰ-1‘to become high, rise, elevate’uncertain
  2. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEब्राह्मण2brā́hmaṇa‘relating to or given by a Brahmin, befitting or becoming a Brahmin’
  3. Englishtodaybrahmana2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Sanskrit ब्राह्मण
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English brahmana

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerǵʰ-Wiktionary, Sanskrit ब्राह्मण‘to become high, rise, elevate’uncertain
  2. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEब्राह्मणWiktionary, English brahmanabrā́hmaṇa‘relating to or given by a Brahmin, befitting or becoming a Brahmin’
  3. EnglishtodaybrahmanaWiktionary, English brahmana

The story

Anglicized/transliterated from Sanskrit ब्राह्मण (brā́hmaṇa).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- ‘to become high, rise, elevate’

force, comfortable, fort, berry, borough, burgess, bourgeois, barrow, burglar, burgh, brie, forcible, burg, borgo, bergh, bourguignon, broch, 22 more

Today it means

noun The brahmin varna in Hinduism. (Plural: brahmana.)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “brahmana”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Sanskrit ब्राह्मण. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- / brahmana

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