Uttama
/ˈʊt.tə.mə/noun
A Sanskrit word meaning “highest,” “best,” or “supreme.”
Did you know?In Sanskrit, uttama is the superlative of a root meaning “up” or “above,” so its power comes from a very old spatial idea: what is highest becomes what is best.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*upo
“under, below, from below”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*upér
“over, above”
Proto-Indo-Iranian
PII
*upamá-
“highest, uppermost; superlative form”
Sanskrit
Sanskrit
uttama
“highest, uppermost, best, supreme”
Modern English
English
uttama
“used as a Sanskrit loanword/name meaning highest or supreme”