Inde (Middle English)
Where does "Inde" come from?
The Middle English word 'Inde' originally referred to the country of India and was borrowed from the Old French term 'Ynde'. This name can be traced further back to the Classical Persian word 'Hind', which designated the region around the Indus River.
Full etymology tree
- Inde (Middle English), 'India (a country)'
- borrowed Ynde (Old French)
- borrowed hind (Classical Persian)
- inherited hiⁿdūš (Old Persian)
- inherited *hínduš (Proto-Iranian)
- inherited *síndʰuš (Proto-Indo-Iranian), 'river, stream.'
- inherited *hínduš (Proto-Iranian)
- inherited hiⁿdūš (Old Persian)
- borrowed hind (Classical Persian)
- borrowed Ynde (Old French)
Updated May 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris