चार (Hindi)
Where does "चार" come from?
The Hindi word 'चार' (cār) traces its origins back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *kʷetwóres. Over thousands of years, it evolved through Proto-Indo-Iranian and Sanskrit before transitioning into the Prakrit dialects and Old Hindi. Remarkably, this long journey makes 'चार' a distant linguistic cousin to the English word 'four'.
Full etymology tree
- चार (cār) (Hindi), 'four'
- inherited चारि (cāri) (Old Hindi), 'four'
- inherited 𑀘𑀬𑀸𑀭𑀺 (cayāri) (Prakrit)
- inherited 𑀘𑀢𑁆𑀢𑀭𑀺 (cattāri) (Prakrit)
- inherited चतुर् (catur) (Sanskrit), 'four'
- inherited *ćatwā́ras (Proto-Indo-Aryan)
- inherited *čatwā́ras (Proto-Indo-Iranian), 'four'
- inherited *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European), 'four'
- inherited *čatwā́ras (Proto-Indo-Iranian), 'four'
- inherited *ćatwā́ras (Proto-Indo-Aryan)
- inherited चतुर् (catur) (Sanskrit), 'four'
- influence चतुरः (caturaḥ) (Sanskrit)
- inherited 𑀘𑀢𑁆𑀢𑀭𑀺 (cattāri) (Prakrit)
- inherited 𑀘𑀬𑀸𑀭𑀺 (cayāri) (Prakrit)
- inherited चारि (cāri) (Old Hindi), 'four'
Ancestors
- चारि (Old Hindi)
- *čatwā́ras (Proto-Indo-Iranian)
- *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- four (English)
- ચાર (Gujarati)
- चार (Konkani)
- चार (Marathi)
- चार (Nepali)
Updated July 2026
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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris