पवस्त

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *pawástam (“covering, envelope”). Cognate with Old Persian 𐎱𐎠𐎺𐎿𐎫𐎠 (p-a-v-s-t-a /⁠pavastā⁠/, “thin clay envelope”), whence Persian پوست (pust, “hide”). Also compare पुस्तक (pustaka), a borrowing from Middle Iranian. The Indo-Iranian word most likely traces back to a combination of *pa-was-ta-, the former component from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“off, away”) (compare अप (apa, “away, back; down”)), and the latter from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to dress”) (compare वस्ते (vaste, “to put on, invest, wear”)). The form of the former component as प-, rather than the expected अप-, is explained as a preserved archaism from Old Indo-Aryan.^[1][2]

Alternatively, Cheung connects the word to Proto-Iranian *paus- (“to dress, clothe, cover”) (whence Persian پوشیدن (pušidan, “to wear clothes”)), deriving both from an unidentified substrate.^[3] This is less likely, considering the word's Vedic presence and existence of a plausible Indo-Iranian etymology.

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /pɐ.ʋɐ́s.tɐ/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /pɐˈʋɐs̪.t̪ɐ/

पवस्त • (pavásta) stem, n

1. a covering, garment
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 10.27.7:

     अभूर्वौक्षीर्व्यु आयुरानड्दर्षन्नु पूर्वो अपरो नु दर्षत् ।
     द्वे पवस्ते परि तं न भूतो यो अस्य पारे रजसो विवेष ॥

     abhūrvaukṣīrvyu āyurānaḍdarṣannu pūrvo aparo nu darṣat.
     dve pavaste pari taṃ na bhūto yo asya pāre rajaso viveṣa.

     Thou wast, thou grewest to full vital vigour: an earlier saw, a later one shall see thee.
     Two canopies, as ’twere, are round about him who reacheth to the limit of this region.

   • c. 1200 BCE – 1000 BCE, Atharvaveda 4.7.6:

     पवस्तैस् त्वा पर्यक्रीणन् दूर्शेभिर् अजिनैर् उत ।
     प्रक्रीरसि त्वम् ओषधेऽभ्रिखाते न रूरुपः ॥

     pavastais tvā paryakrīṇan dūrśebhir ajinair uta.
     prakrīrasi tvam oṣadheʼbhrikhāte na rūrupaḥ.

     For coverings men have bartered thee, for skins of deer and woven cloths.
     Thou art a thing of sale, O Plant. Dug up with mattocks, gripe not thou!

• Pali: potthaka (with Middle Indo-Aryan -ka-)
• Prakrit: 𑀧𑁄𑀢𑁆𑀣 (pŏttha)
• Prakrit: 𑀧𑁄𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀬 (pŏtthaya) (with Middle Indo-Aryan -ka-)
  • Sindhi: پوٿو (potho, “lump of rag for smearing”)

• Monier Williams (1899) “पवस्त”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 611/2.
• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “पवस्त”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan