etymology: The science of the origin of words and their development. The history of a word.

See: Nirukta Vedanga, Sanskrit.

(See also: Etymology, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

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As a language, English is derived from the Anglo-Saxon, a dialect of West Germanic (as was Old Low German), although its current vocabulary includes words from many languages. The Anglo-Saxon roots can be seen in the similarity of numbers in English and German, particularly seven/sieben, eight/acht, nine/neun and ten/zehn. Pronouns are also cognate: I/ich; thou/Du; we/wir; she/sie. However, language change has eroded many grammatical elements, such as the noun case system, which is grea ...

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Etymology, Etymology - Basic ideas in etymology, Etymology - English etymology, Etymology - History of etymology, Etymology - Bibliography

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Etymology is the study of the origins of words. Some words have been derived from other languages, possibly in a changed form (the source words are called etymons). Through old texts and comparisons with other languages, etymologists try to reconstruct the history of words — when they entered a language, from what source, and how their form and meaning changed. Etymologists also try to reconstruct information about languages that are too old for any direct information (such as writing) to be known. By comparing words in relat ...

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Etymology - Basic ideas in etymology Etymology - English etymology Etymology - History of etymology Etymology - Bibliography

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Vedangas:

Vedangas (Vedhaangaa). Subsidiary treatises of the Vedas: six sciences of proper pronunciation, grammar, metre, etymology, astronomy, ritual.

(See also: Vedangas, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Narayana: A proper name of God-specifically of Vishnu. The term by etymology means a Being that supports all things, that is reached by them and that helps them to do so; also one who pervades all things.

(See also: Narayana, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Tridandi (Sanskrit). The name generally given to a class or sect of Sanyasis who constantly keep in the hand a kind of club (danda) branching off into three rods at the top. The word is variously etymologized, and some give the name to the triple Brahmanical thread.

(See also: Tridandi, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

The search for meaningful origins for familiar or strange words is far older than the modern understanding of linguistic evolution and the relationships of languages, with its roots no deeper than the 18th century. From Antiquity through the 17th century, from Pindar to Sir Thomas Browne, etymology has been a form of witty wordplay, in which the supposed origins of words were mythologized to satisfy contemporary requirements, much as myths were formed to explain archaic rituals that were no longer comprehensible. In his Odes Pindar spins com ...

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Etymology, Etymology - Basic ideas in etymology, Etymology - English etymology, Etymology - History of etymology, Etymology - Bibliography

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Nirukta (Sanskrit) [from nir forth, out + the verbal root vac to speak, utter]

Uttered, pronounced, expressed, defined; as a noun, the etymological interpretation of a word, also the name of such works, especially of a commentary on the Nighantus (a Vedic glossary) by Yaska, the oldest commentary on the Vedas presently known.

(See also: Nirukta, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Vedanga:

Vedanga: Veda-limb. Six branches of post-Vedic studies revered as auxiliary to the Vedas. Four Vedangas govern correct chanting of the Vedas: 1. Shiksha (phonetics), 2. Çhandas (meter), 3. Nirukta (etymology), 4. Vyakarana (grammar). The two other Vedangas are 5. Jyotisha Vedanga (astronomy-astrology) and 6. Kalpa Vedanga (procedural canon) which includes the Shrauta and Shulba Shastras (ritual codes), Dharma Shastras (social law) and Grihya Shastras (domestic codes).

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Helios, Helion, Helius (Greek) The sun god, son of Hyperion and Theia, brother of Selene (the moon) and Eos (the dawn). He drives the chariot of the sun across the sky. Generally identical with Apollo or Phoebos; sol in Latin, sun in English, assimilated etymologically with the Hebrew 'El and 'elohim, the Chaldean Bel, and the Phoenician Ba`al. Helios is paired with Selene the moon, as Sol is with Luna.

(See also: Helios, Helion, Helius, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Balaam bil`am (Hebrew) (etymology uncertain)

One of the prophets of the Old Testament, last and greatest of the gentile prophets, appearing at the time when the Israelites were completing their forty years of wandering (Numbers 22-4). "The Zohar explains the 'birds' which inspired Balaam to mean 'Serpents,' to wit, the wise men and adepts at whose school he had learned the mysteries of prophecy" (SD 2:409).

(See also: Balaam, bil`am, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Helios, Helion, Helius (Greek) The sun god, son of Hyperion and Theia, brother of Selene (the moon) and Eos (the dawn). He drives the chariot of the sun across the sky. Generally identical with Apollo or Phoebos; sol in Latin, sun in English, assimilated etymologically with the Hebrew 'El and 'elohim, the Chaldean Bel, and the Phoenician Ba`al. Helios is paired with Selene the moon, as Sol is with Luna.

(See also: Heliolatry, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

SET/SETH

Dark god of Egypt -- ruled the Redlands, or Desert, hence those things that were most fearful to the Egyptians. Sometimes associated with Satan. That etymological connection, however, is very uncertain. Satan, in Hebrew means "to accuse," hence Satan is the "adversary" or "critic." On the other hand S-T or Sh-T, in Egyptian, nearly always has something to do with the "South" or travel thereto, a sense that is totally lacking in the Hebrew word.

(See also: SET, SETH, Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul, )

TEMPERANCE

Arcanum xiv, "The Lower Self," lettered Samech, ruled by Sagittarius. Ouspensky called this "Time," because of its etymology, no doubt (from temperare, to measure, to order ult. tempus.) Time is entirely a human preoccupation and obsession. Ultimately, it comes down to the attempt to reconcile the two "chariots": evolution (which is the individual) and incarnation (which is the personality).

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SALAMANDER

Fire elemental. A small salamander manages hearth and furnace and a larger one deals with volcanoes, earthly holocausts and the like. Its emblem is the Lamp. It is, supposedly, drawn by energy and strength but repelled by temperament, irascibility and violence. This powerful nature spirit, however, does not easily communicate with man and is the most difficult for us to understand. Its etymology, of course, is the Persian word for any lizard, samandar.

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Monas Monadum In Leibniz' system of monads, the supreme monad, which is infinite and upon which there depend three classes of finite monads. This supreme monad held the place of God, an infinite perfect spirit, a Person of absolute power, wisdom, and goodness. I

n this case, the supreme monad is cosmically more than a person -- for etymologically person means a mask or vehicle through and from which issue the attributes and powers of something incomparably higher than itself. Equivalent to the summit of the human hierarchy.

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Pneumatology The study of gases; the study of beings intermediate between God or other divinity and man, including in the lower ranges angels, daimones, etc., and still lower possibly even demons and ghosts, etc.; the Christian theological doctrine of the Holy Ghost. G. de Purucker uses the term etymologically for the science of the pneuma or spirit, just as psychology is strictly speaking the science of the psyche.

The psyche is the lower intermediate nature of man, kama-manas; pneuma pertains to the higher duad, atma-buddhi. Modern psychology and psychoanalysis unfortunately deal mainly with the activities of the lower quaternary of the septenary being that is man, and ignores the activities or even the existence of anything else higher.

(See also: Pneumatology, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Philosophy The Greek philosophia meant love of wisdom, but with equal power of significance, although perhaps not etymologically as correct, the meaning was wisdom of love; also, the systematic investigation and instruction of facts and theories regarded as important in the study of truth.

In common usage it denotes the mental and moral sciences, in some respects being nearly equivalent to metaphysics, and including a number of divisions.

Theosophists speak of a triad of philosophy, religion, and science as being merged by theosophy into a unity; but science was itself at one time called natural philosophy, so that the chief distinction is that between faith and reason.

(See also: Philosophy, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Eridanus (Greek) In Greek mythology, a river into which Zeus cast Phaethon, a son of Helios (the sun), when he rashly tried to drive the chariot of the sun and had nearly set the earth on fire. It is identified with the sacred river Nile, and its etymological roots are the same as those found in Jordan.

As the myth of Phaethon refers, among other things, to geological changes, Eridanus has both a cosmic and earthly significance; in the former referring to the flowing of the ocean or river, mystically supposed to surround the world; and in the latter, referring to the mystical river of inspiration flowing downwards in its descent from the spirit into recipient minds.

(See also: Eridanus, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)