Etymograph

English

yuga

Yuga comes from Sanskrit युग ‘yoke’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *yewg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yewg-1‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yugóm1‘yoke’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*yugám1‘yoke’reconstructed
  4. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEयुग2yuga‘yoke’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1991yuga2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Sanskrit युग
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English yuga
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1991, Deborah A. Soifer: “To Biardeau the linear nature of the declining dharma…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yewg-Wiktionary, Sanskrit युग‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yugómWiktionary, Sanskrit युग‘yoke’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*yugámWiktionary, Sanskrit युग‘yoke’reconstructed
  4. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEयुगWiktionary, English yugayuga‘yoke’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1991yugaWiktionary, English yuga. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1991, Deborah A. Soifer: “To Biardeau the linear nature of the declining dharma…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *yewg- ‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’

join, junction, yoga, adjunct, jodi, juncture, jugular, yojana, subjugate, 42 more

through Proto-Indo-European *yugóm ‘yoke’

yogi, yoke, conjugate, zygote, conjugation, 12 more

Today it means

noun In Hindu theology, a period of a few hundred or thousand years, or an epoch or era within a cycle of four ages, catur-yuga catur-yuga: the Satya Yuga (or Krita Yuga), the Dvapara Yuga, the Treta Yuga and finally the Kali Yuga, with lengths ranging from 432,000 to 1,728,000 years.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “yuga”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Sanskrit युग. 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 *yewg- / yuga

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