Etymograph

English

jaggery

Jaggery comes from Sanskrit शर्करा ‘candied or ground sugar’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ ‘boulder’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱorkeh₂1‘boulder’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*ćárkaraH2reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Aryanprehistoric (reconstructed)*śárkaraH2reconstructed
  4. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEशर्करा1śarkarā‘candied or ground sugar’
  5. Malayalammodernചക്കര1cakkarauncertain
  6. Indo-Portuguesemodernjágara1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1681jaggery1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English jaggery
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Sanskrit शर्करा
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1681, Robert Knox, An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon: “The next Tree is the Kettule. […] It yieldeth…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱorkeh₂Wiktionary, English jaggery‘boulder’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*ćárkaraHWiktionary, Sanskrit शर्कराreconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Aryanprehistoric (reconstructed)*śárkaraHWiktionary, Sanskrit शर्कराreconstructed
  4. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEशर्कराWiktionary, English jaggeryśarkarā‘candied or ground sugar’
  5. Malayalammodernചക്കരWiktionary, English jaggerycakkarauncertain
  6. Indo-PortuguesemodernjágaraWiktionary, English jaggery
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1681jaggeryWiktionary, English jaggery. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1681, Robert Knox, An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon: “The next Tree is the Kettule. […] It yieldeth…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ ‘boulder’

sugar, 11 more

through Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH

saccharin, 11 more

Today it means

noun A traditional dark-brown unrefined sugar made from palm tree sap which is used throughout South and Southeast Asia; (by extension) other types of unrefined sugar.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “jaggery”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Sanskrit शर्करा. 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 *ḱorkeh₂ / jaggery

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