Where does “Jainism” come from?
Jainism derives from Jain through the Ancient Greek suffix -ισμός, itself from -μός, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -mós, a formative element creating abstract nouns denoting states or conditions.
Ancestry of “Jainism”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | jaïnisme | Jainism |
| 2 | French | -ïsme | -ism, variant of -isme following vowels |
| 3 | Latin | -isma | Alternative form of -ismus; -ism |
| 4 | Latin | -ismus | -ism |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -ισμός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -μός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -mós | Creates action/result nouns from verb stems |