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dharna / dharma
Mar. 14th, 2011 07:19 amTheme week! -- because I just happen to have a bunch of doublets, words that are closely related somehow, by spelling, etymology, opposites, or whatnot.
dharna (DAHR-nuh, DUHR-nuh) - n., (in India) the practice of exacting justice or compliance with a just demand by sitting and fasting at the door of an offender until either death or the demand is granted.
dharma (DAHR-muh, DUHR-muh) - n., (in Indian religions) the cosmic order or law, including the natural and moral principles for all beings and things; dutiful observance of this law, right conduct.
The former was borrowed into English in the 1740s (!) from Hindi & Urdu dharnā, from Sanskrit dharaṇaṃ support, prop (a cognate of Latin firmus, firm); a typical such demand is a repayment of a debt. The latter (borrowed later, in the 1790s) comes a different inflection of the same root, Sanskrit dhárma, that which supports or props; it is used in just about all Indian religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism.
---L.
dharna (DAHR-nuh, DUHR-nuh) - n., (in India) the practice of exacting justice or compliance with a just demand by sitting and fasting at the door of an offender until either death or the demand is granted.
dharma (DAHR-muh, DUHR-muh) - n., (in Indian religions) the cosmic order or law, including the natural and moral principles for all beings and things; dutiful observance of this law, right conduct.
The former was borrowed into English in the 1740s (!) from Hindi & Urdu dharnā, from Sanskrit dharaṇaṃ support, prop (a cognate of Latin firmus, firm); a typical such demand is a repayment of a debt. The latter (borrowed later, in the 1790s) comes a different inflection of the same root, Sanskrit dhárma, that which supports or props; it is used in just about all Indian religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism.
---L.
