Brahmaputra
/ˌbrɑːməˈpuːtrə/noun
A major river in Asia, especially one flowing through Tibet, India, and Bangladesh.
Did you know?Brahmaputra is a Sanskrit name built from Brahma, the creator god, plus putra, “son,” making it one of those rare place-names that preserves a direct divine genealogy.
Etymological Timeline
Sanskrit
Skt
brahmaputra
“Brahma’s son”
Classical/Medieval Indic usage
Skt
brahmaputra
“A sacred or legendary river name associated with divine origin”
Early modern European mapping
Eng
Brahmaputra
“The name adopted into European geographic writing for the great river of northeast India”
Modern English
Eng
Brahmaputra
“The standard English name of the river”