Where does “Hindustan” come from?

Hindustan comes from Persian هندوستان, combining Persian ـستان (a suffix meaning "land of") with Middle Persian hndwk', which derives from Sanskrit सिन्धु referring to the Sindhu River, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European steh₂- meaning "to stand."

Hindustan (English): India

Definitions

  1. India

Ancestry of “Hindustan”, step by step

Hindustan traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Persian هندوستان

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1PersianهندوستانIndia
2Persianـستان-istan, -estan, -stan
3Middle Persian-stʾn'makes nouns of places; of indeterminate function
4Proto-Indo-IranianstáHnamthe act of standing; position, location, place
5Proto-Indo-Europeanstéh₂-no-m—
6Proto-Indo-Europeansteh₂-to stand

via French hindoustani

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchhindoustani—

Words derived from “Hindustan”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European steh₂- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European stéh₂-no-m →Every word from Middle Persian -stʾn' →