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Origin and history of yoga

yoga(n.)

branch of Hindu religious philosophy, 1820, yogu, from Hindi yoga, from Sanskrit yoga-s, literally "union, yoking" (with the Supreme Spirit), from PIE root *yeug- "to join." Among its doctrines it advances a system of integration with the universal spirit through meditation while keeping the body in certain unnatural positions. Related: Yogic.

also from 1820

Entries linking to yoga

hatha-yoga(n.)

1911, from Sanskrit hatha "force, violence, forced meditation" + yoga (see yoga).

yogi(n.)

"Hindu ascetic and mendicant practicing the system of yoga combining meditation and austerity," 1610s, from Hindi yogi, from Sanskrit yoga- (see yoga). Related: Yogism "doctrine and practice of yogis" (1893); from 1887 as yogeeism.

*yeug-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to join."

It might form all or part of: adjoin; adjust; conjoin; conjugal; conjugate; conjugation; conjunct; disjointed; enjoin; injunction; jugular; jostle; joust; join; joinder; joint; jointure; junction; juncture; junta; juxtapose; juxtaposition; rejoin (v.2) "to answer;" rejoinder; subjoin; subjugate; subjugation; subjunctive; syzygy; yoga; yoke; zeugma; zygoma; zygomatic; zygote.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit yugam "yoke," yunjati "binds, harnesses," yogah "union;" Hittite yugan "yoke;" Greek zygon "yoke," zeugnyanai "to join, unite;" Latin iungere "to join," iugum "yoke;" Old Church Slavonic igo, Old Welsh iou "yoke;" Lithuanian jungas "yoke," jungti "to fasten to a yoke;" Old English geoc "yoke."

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    Trends of yoga

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    exercise
    mid-14c., "condition of being in active operation; practice for the sake of training," from Old French exercice (13c.) "exercise, execution of power; physical or spiritual exercise," from Latin exercitium "training, physical exercise" (of soldiers, horsemen, etc.); "play;" in Med
    delirium
    1590s, "a disordered state, more or less temporary, of the mind, often occurring during fever or illness," from Latin delirium "madness," from deliriare "be crazy, rave," literally "go off the furrow," a plowing metaphor, from phrase de lire, from de "off, away" (see de-) + lira
    bath
    Old English bæð "an immersing of the body in water, mud, etc.," also "a quantity of water, etc., for bathing," from Proto-Germanic *badan (source also of Old Frisian beth, Old Saxon bath, Old Norse bað, Middle Dutch bat, German Bad), from PIE root *bhē- "to warm" + *-thuz, German
    anathema
    1520s, "an accursed thing," from Latin anathema "an excommunicated person; the curse of excommunication," from Ecclesiastical Greek anathema "a thing accursed," a slight variation of classical Greek anathama, which meant merely "a thing devoted," literally "a thing set up (to the
    participle
    late 14c., in grammar, "a noun-adjective, a word having the value of an adjective as a part of speech but so regularly made from a verb and associated with it in meaning and construction as to seem to belong to the verb," from Old French participle in the grammatical sense (13c.)
    prism
    1560s, in geometry, "a solid whose bases or ends are any similar, equal, and parallel plane polygons, and whose sides are parallelograms" (not always triangular), from Late Latin prisma, from Greek prisma "a geometrical prism, trilateral column," (Euclid), literally "something sa
    Philistine
    one of the Old Testament people of coastal Palestine who made war on the Israelites, early 14c., from Old French Philistin, from Late Latin Philistinus, from Late Greek Philistinoi (plural), from Hebrew P'lishtim, "people of P'lesheth" ("Philistia"); compare Akkadian Palastu, Egy
    cynic
    1550s, "one of the ancient sect of philosophy founded by Antisthenes," from Latinized form of Greek kynikos "a follower of Antisthenes," literally "dog-like," from kyōn (genitive kynos) "dog" (from PIE root *kwon- "dog"). Supposedly the name is a reference to the coarseness of li
    distress
    late 13c., "circumstance that causes anxiety or hardship," from Old French destresse (Modern French détresse), from Vulgar Latin *districtia "restraint, affliction, narrowness, distress," from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere "draw apart, hinder," also, in Medieva
    psyche
    1640s, "animating spirit, the human spirit or mind," from Latin psyche, from Greek psykhē "the soul, mind, spirit; life, one's life, the invisible animating principle or entity which occupies and directs the physical body; understanding, the mind (as the seat of thought), faculty

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    Dictionary entries near yoga
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