Where does “indigo” come from?
indigo (Swedish) comes from Spanish índigo, from Latin indicum, from Latin Indicus, from Ancient Greek ἰνδικός, from Ancient Greek Ἰνδία, from Ancient Greek Ἰνδός, from Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁, from Sanskrit सिन्धु.
Ancestry of “indigo”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Spanish | índigo | indigo; indigo plant |
| 2 | Latin | indicum | genitive plural of index; inflection of... |
| 3 | Latin | Indicus | of India |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | ἰνδικός | — |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | Ἰνδία | — |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | Ἰνδός | an inhabitant of India or the Indian... |
| 7 | Old Persian | 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 | India; people living beyond the Indus |
| 8 | Sanskrit | सिन्धु | a river, stream; flood, waters; ocean, sea |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-Aryan | síndʰuṣ | river, ocean; flow |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | síndʰuš | river, stream |
| 11 | Sanskrit | सिन्धु॑ | — |