Mamsa
/ˈmɑːm.sə/noun
A Sanskrit-derived term used in Ayurveda and related English writing for flesh, meat, or muscular tissue.
Did you know?In Ayurveda, māṃsa is one of the seven bodily tissues, or dhātus, formed through the body’s successive processes of nourishment and transformation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*mēmso-
“Flesh or bodily tissue; a reconstructed ancestor associated with meat and muscle”
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
māṃsa
“Flesh or meat, including the substance of the body”
Classical Sanskrit
Sanskrit
māṃsa
“Flesh, meat, or muscular tissue; also a technical term in Ayurvedic physiology”
19th–20th Century
English
mamsa
“A Sanskrit loanword used in translations and discussions of Ayurveda, yoga, and Indian medicine”
Modern English
English
mamsa
“Flesh, meat, or the muscular tissue known in Ayurveda as māṃsa”