Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Ganges” come from?

Ganges derives from Ancient Greek Γάγγης, from Sanskrit गङ्गा, from Sanskrit गच्छति meaning "to go," tracing back through Proto-Indo-Aryan gaśćáti, Proto-Indo-Iranian gasćáti, and Proto-Indo-European gʷm̥sḱéti to the root gʷem-.

Ancestry of “Ganges”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1LatinGangēs—
2Ancient GreekΓάγγηςGanges
3Ancient Greek-ήςadjective suffix
4Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
5Proto-Indo-European-ess—
6Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “Ganges”

  • Gangean
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →