chakra

Etymology

It is borrowed from Sanskrit चक्र (cakra, “wheel, circle”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to revolve, move round”).^[6][7] The Sanskrit word is related to English wheel,^[2][3][8][5] and Klein compares Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle”), the source of cycle.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Shorter Oxford dates the word to the late 18th century, for the thin, sharp-edged steel disc thrown as a weapon by Sikhs;^[3] the OED's first record of that sense is from 1883, in the Encyclopædia Britannica.^[2] Etymonline finds both the yoga sense and the disc held by Hindu gods in 1849, in an article in The Calcutta Review.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The Sanskrit word meant a wheel or circle, and English took it over for several circular things in Indian life: the Sikh throwing weapon, the discus or mystic circle in the hands of Hindu gods such as Vishnu, and in yoga the centres of spiritual power in the body.^[3][2][4][5] The Tantric theory, as described in 1849, imagined these centres as lotus-like organs placed one above another along the body.^[6] Their identification with the nerve plexuses of anatomy is recorded by 1897.^[6] Since 1947 the word has also named the wheel emblem on the flag of India.^[2][3]

Timeline

• late 18th century – a disc used as a weapon by the Sikhs.^[3] The OED's first record of this sense is from 1883.^[2]
• 1849 – in yoga, a centre of spiritual power in the body; also the disc in the hands of Hindu gods.^[6] The OED dates the yoga sense from 1888 and the disc from 1891.^[2]
• 1897 – a chakra identified with a nerve plexus.^[6]
• 1947 – the wheel emblem on the flag of India.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. In yoga and related traditions, any of the centres of spiritual or physical energy believed to lie along the body, usually counted as seven.^[4][5][2]
2. In Hindu art and myth, the discus carried by the god Vishnu, a sign of his power.^[4][5][3]
3. A sharp-edged steel disc thrown as a weapon, formerly used by the Sikhs.^[3][2][5]
4. The wheel emblem in the centre of the flag of India.^[3][2]

Related words

• wheel
• cycle
• chakram

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.