vezyA 'courtesan'

Wed Feb 7 11:29:40 UTC 2001

On 5 Feb 01, at 18:50, N. Ganesan wrote:

> How is the name, vezyA 'courtesan' explained in terms of origins?
> It does not appear to be IE since it is attested only from the
> times of Mahabharata epic onwards.

Skt. ve"syaa ``prostitute, courtesan" has to be connected with
Skt. ve"sa ``house; brothel; prostitution" which is already attested
in the Vaajasaneyi-Sa.mhitaa (Kaa.nva recension), in Manu, etc.
(cf. the noun vi"s ``habitation, settlement" and the root vi"s, or
ve"s ``enter, settle in", already .Rgvedic and of Indo-European
origin).

Best regards,
Roland Steiner