Where does “ក្របី” come from?
ក្របី (Khmer) comes from Pali kapi, from Sanskrit कपि, from Sanskrit स्थल, from Proto-Indo-European ster- — sterile, infertile.
ក្របី (Khmer): water buffalo
Ancestry of “ក្របី”, step by step
ក្របី traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Pali kapi
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Pali | kapi | monkey |
| 2 | Sanskrit | कपि | ape, monkey; elephant; Indian gooseberry |
| 3 | Sanskrit | स्थल | chapter, section; Name of a son of बल; a heap of... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | ster- | sterile, infertile |
via Old Khmer ក្របិ
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Khmer | ក្របិ | Bubalus bubalis, water buffalo, carabao |
| 2 | Proto-Austroasiatic | *krpiʔ | — |