Etymograph

English

sinhalite

Sinhalite comes from Sanskrit सिंहल ‘Sri Lanka’, from सिंह ‘lion’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sinȷ́ʰás.

  1. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*sinȷ́ʰás1‘lion’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Aryanprehistoric (reconstructed)*sinźʰás1reconstructed
  3. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEसिंह1siṃha‘lion’
  4. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEसिंहल2siṃhala‘Sri Lanka’
  5. Englishtodaysinhalite2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Sanskrit सिंहल
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sinhalite

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*sinȷ́ʰásWiktionary, Sanskrit सिंहल‘lion’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Aryanprehistoric (reconstructed)*sinźʰásWiktionary, Sanskrit सिंहलreconstructed
  3. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEसिंहWiktionary, Sanskrit सिंहलsiṃha‘lion’
  4. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEसिंहलWiktionary, English sinhalitesiṃhala‘Sri Lanka’
  5. EnglishtodaysinhaliteWiktionary, English sinhalite

Formed from ite

The story

Named for the type locality in Sanskrit सिंहल (siṃhala, “Sri Lanka”) + -ite.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sinȷ́ʰás

Today it means

noun An orthorhombic-dipyramidal mineral containing aluminum, boron, magnesium, and oxygen.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sinhalite”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Sanskrit सिंहल. 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-Iranian *sinȷ́ʰás / sinhalite

Shirt and support for this word