जानु

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀚𑀸𑀇 (jāi), from Ashokan Prakrit 𑀬𑀸𑀢𑀺 (yāti), from Sanskrit याति॑ (yā́ti), from Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂-.

• IPA^(key):
• Phonetic Devanagari: जानु

जानु • (jānu)

1. to go, to leave, to depart

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *ȷ́ā́nu (“knee”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu (“knee”).

Cognate with Old Armenian ծունգք (cungkʻ), Ancient Greek γόνυ (gónu, “knee”), Latin genu (“knee”), Avestan 𐬰𐬁𐬥𐬎 (zānu), Persian زانو (zânu), Old English cnēow (whence English knee)).

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /d͡ʑɑ́ː.nu/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʑɑː.n̪u/

जानु • (jā́nu) stem, n

1. (anatomy) knee
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 10.15.6:

     आच्या जानु दक्षिणतो निषद्येमं यज्ञमभि गृणीत विश्वे ।
     मा हिंसिष्ट पितरः केन चिन्नो यद्व आगः पुरुषता कराम ॥

     ācyā jānu dakṣiṇato niṣadyemaṃ yajñamabhi gṛṇīta viśve.
     mā hiṃsiṣṭa pitaraḥ kena cinno yadva āgaḥ puruṣatā karāma.

     Bowing your bended knees and seated southward, accept this sacrifice of ours with favour.
     Punish us not for any sin, O Fathers, which we through human frailty have committed.

• ज्ञु (jñú, zero-grade)

• Helu Prakrit:
  • Sinhalese: දන (dana)
• Paisaci Prakrit:
  • Lahnda:

    Khetrani: (jā̃ṇu)

• Pali: jānu
• → Telugu: జానువు (jānuvu)

• Monier Williams (1899) “जानु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 418.
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “jāˊnu”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press