Karman
/ˈkɑːrmən/noun
The Sanskrit term meaning action or deed, especially action understood as producing consequences, from which English karma derives.
Did you know?In Sanskrit grammar, karman- is the stem, while karma is its neuter nominative form—so the familiar word is grammatically a shortened form.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kʷer-
“To do or make; a reconstructed root associated with action.”
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
kṛṇóti
“He or she does, makes, or performs.”
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
karman-
“Action, deed, ritual act, or work; an action understood to produce an effect.”
Classical Sanskrit
Sanskrit
karma
“Action, deed, ritual performance, or the consequence of action.”
Middle Indo-Aryan
Pali
kamma
“Action and its ethical consequence; the form preserved in Buddhist usage.”
19th Century
English
karma
“An adopted term for the moral consequences of actions, later broadened to mean fate or retribution.”
Modern English
English
karman
“A scholarly or transliterated form of Sanskrit karma, used especially in discussions of Indian philosophy and religion.”