juggernaut

Etymology

First recorded in the 1630s (as Iaggernat) for the huge wagon carrying an image of Krishna at Puri;^[1][2] the figurative sense “an idea or custom demanding blind devotion or merciless sacrifice” dates from 1854.^[1] It is borrowed from Hindi जगन्नाथ (Jagannāth, “lord of the world”), a title of Krishna,^[3][4] from Sanskrit जगन्नाथ (Jagannātha, “lord of the world”),^[2][5] from jagat “world” + nātha “lord, protector”.^[2][5]

The sense arose from the belief that worshippers threw themselves under the wheels of the wagon during the annual procession at Puri,^[3][1] which Etymonline calls apocryphal.^[1] The spelling Jugger- reflects the Hindi short a.^[2]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] [4] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. [1] [2] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
4. [1] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. [1] [2] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House