Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "asana" come from? It comes from Sanskrit asana, and was adopted directly into English (19th-20th c.).
Read the full story
Where does the word "asana" come from? It comes from Sanskrit asana, and was adopted directly into English (19th-20th c.).
Asana’s story begins in Sanskrit: asana meant “a seat; a sitting posture for meditation.” Meant 'seat', from a root meaning 'to sit'. It reached English by 19th-20th c. as asana. First recorded in 1811 in the writing of William Ward, a Baptist missionary at Serampore in Bengal. Today, asana means a physical posture or pose practiced in yoga.
- Stage 1 · Sanskrit · ancient asana "a seat; a sitting posture for meditation", meant 'seat', from a root meaning 'to sit'.
- Stage 2 · English · 19th-20th c. asana "a physical posture practiced in yoga", first recorded in 1811 in the writing of William Ward, a Baptist missionary at Serampore in Bengal.