पीत

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /piː.tɐ́/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /ˈpiː.t̪ɐ/

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *pᵢHtás, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₃-tó-s (“drunk, imbibed”), from *peh₃- (“to drink”). Cognate with Latin pōtus, Ancient Greek ποτός (potós), Persian نبید (na-bid, “wine”). The Sanskrit root is पा (pā, “to drink”).^[1]

The "soaked" meaning may derive from the root पी (pī, “to soak, fatten”) or otherwise be influenced by it.

पीत • (pītá) stem

1. drunk, imbibed, sipped, quaffed, sipped
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 8.48.10:

     ऋदूदरेण सख्या सचेय यो मा न रिष्येद्धर्यश्व पीतः ।
     अयं यः सोमो न्यधाय्यस्मे तस्मा इन्द्रं प्रतिरमेम्यायुः ॥

     ṛdūdareṇa sakhyā saceya yo mā na riṣyeddharyaśva pītaḥ.
     ayaṃ yaḥ somo nyadhāyyasme tasmā indraṃ pratiramemyāyuḥ.

     O Lord of Horses, may I be with the Friend whose heart is tender, who, when drunk will never harm me
     This Soma now deposited within me. For this, I pray for longer life to Indra.

2. soaked, saturated, filled with (with instrumental of the object)

• Pali: pīta
• Prakrit: 𑀧𑀻𑀅 (pīa)
• Gandhari: 𐨤𐨁𐨡 (pida)

Of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to पित्त (pitta, “bile”), and along with it, derived from the root पी (pī, “to swell, fatten”) with semantic shift "fat" > "the color of fat (like butter and oil)" > "yellow". It is also possible that पित्त (pitta) is the original term, with पीत (pīta) a derivative of it; in this case, whether पित्त (pitta) derives from पी (pī) is less clear.^[2]

पीत • (pīta) stem

1. yellow (the color of the Vaiśyas, white being that of the Brāhmans, red that of the Kṣatriyas, and black that of the Śūdras)

पीत • (pīta) stem, m

1. yellow color
2. a yellow substance

• Monier Williams (1899) “पीत”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, pages 629/2-3.
• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “पीत”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan