shloka (English)
Where does "shloka" come from?
The English word 'shloka', which refers to a specific type of Sanskrit verse, was borrowed directly from the Sanskrit 'śloka'[1]. This Sanskrit term traces back to the reconstructed Proto-Indo-Aryan form '*śláwkas'[2]. Ultimately, this lineage is thought to stem from the Proto-Indo-European root '*ḱlew-', a term carrying the sense of 'to listen' or 'to hear'[2].
Open questions
- The reconstructed Proto-Indo-Aryan form '*śláwkas' is an unattested linguistic hypothesis. [2]
- The derivation from the root '*ḱel-' is proposed by Pokorny, but it remains a subject of scholarly debate. [3]
- A potential connection to the Proto-Uralic '*kuwle-' exists but is not universally accepted. [3]
Full etymology tree
- shloka (English), 'A distich of Sanskrit verse, in which each line contains sixteen syllables.'
- borrowed श्लोक (śloka) (Sanskrit), 'sound; noise, call, voice'
- inherited *śláwkas (Proto-Indo-Aryan)
- derived *ḱlew- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to hear'
- inherited *śláwkas (Proto-Indo-Aryan)
- borrowed श्लोक (śloka) (Sanskrit), 'sound; noise, call, voice'
Ancestors
- श्लोक (Sanskrit)
Descendants and derived words
- sloka meter (English)
Sources
- shloka (English) - Wiktionary
- श्लोक (śloka) (Sanskrit) - Wiktionary
- ḱlew- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris