युग

Hindi

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit युग (yugá).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi Hindi) IPA^(key): /jʊɡ/

Noun

युग • (yug) m (Urdu spelling یگ)

1. age, epoch

Declension

Related terms

• योग (yog)

Pali

Alternative forms

Noun

युग n

1. Devanagari script form of yuga (“pair; generation”)

Declension

Noun

युग m

1. Devanagari script form of yuga (“yoke”)

Declension

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *yugám, from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm. Cognate with Avestan 𐬫𐬎𐬎𐬀 (yuua), Ancient Greek ζυγόν (zugón), Latin iugum, Old English ġeoc (whence English yoke).

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /ju.ɡɐ́/
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈju.ɡɐ/

Noun

युग • (yugá) stem, n

1. (literally) yoke
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 3.53.17:

     स्थि॒रौ गावौ॑ भवतां वी॒ळुरक्षो॒ मेषा वि व॑र्हि॒ मा यु॒गं वि शा॑रि इन्द्रः॑ पात॒ल्ये॑ ददतां॒ शरी॑तो॒ररि॑ष्टनेमे अ॒भि नः॑ सचस्व॥

     sthiraú gā́vau bhavatāṃ vīḷúrákṣo méṣā́ ví varhi mā́ yugáṃ ví śāri indraḥ pātalyè dadatāṃ śárītoráriṣṭaneme abhí naḥ sacasva.

     Strong be the pair of oxen, firm the axles, let not the pole slip nor the yoke be broken.
     May Indra, keep the yoke-pins from decaying: attend us, thou whose fellies are uninjured.

2. brace
3. pair, couple, team (especially of animals)
4. a race of men, generation
5. a period or astronomical cycle of 5 (rarely 6) years, a lustrum (especially in the cycle of Jupiter)
6. an age of the world, long mundane period of years, an eon, era
   • c. 400 BCE, Bhagavad Gītā Chapter IV.8:

     परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्।
     धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युगे युगे ॥

     paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṃ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām.
     dharmasaṃsthāpanārthāya saṃbhavāmi yuge yuge .

     "To deliver the pious and destroy the miscreants and to reestablish Dharma, I appear eon after eon."

7. a measure of length
8. name of a particular position or configuration of the moon

Declension

Related terms

• योग (yóga)

Descendants

• Ardhamagadhi Prakrit:
  • Bengali: জোয়াল (jōẇal)
• Dardic:
  • Kalasha: ǰu (“yoke”)
  • Torwali: يو (yū)
• Maharastri Prakrit: 𑀚𑀼𑀅 (jua)
  • Marathi: जुंव (juuva), जुवाली (juvālī), युग (yug)
  • Konkani: जु (zu)
• Sauraseni Prakrit:
  • Hindi: जूआ (jūā)
  • Nepali: जुवा (juwā)
  • Urdu: جوا (jūā)
• → Bengali: যুগ (jug)
• → Hindi: युग (yug)
• → Malayalam: യുഗം (yugaṁ)
• → Marathi: युग (yug)
• → Punjabi: ਯੁਗ (yug)
• → Tamil: யுகம் (yukam), உகம் (ukam), நுகம் (nukam)
• → Telugu: యుగము (yugamu)

Further reading

• Monier Williams (1899) “युग”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 854.