Where does “गुफा” come from?
गुफा (Hindi) comes from Ashokan Prakrit ??????, from Sanskrit गुहा, from Sanskrit गुह्, from Proto-Indo-Iranian gʰawȷ́ʰ- — to hide, conceal.
गुफा (Hindi): cave, cavern
Ancestry of “गुफा”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Ashokan Prakrit | ?????? | cave |
| 2 | Sanskrit | गुहा | hiding place, cave, cavern |
| 3 | Sanskrit | गुह् | a hiding place, cave, den, lair |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | gʰawȷ́ʰ- | to hide, conceal |