Etymology
The word Dhaka is said to refer to the Dhak tree (Butea frondosa), once common in the area; or to Dhak (ঢাক)-a huge membranophone instrument from South Asia which was beaten by order of Mughal Subahdar Islam Khan I while inaugurating the capital in 1610; or to Dhakeshwari (“The Hidden Goddess”), whose shrine is located in the south-western part of the city. Some references also say that it was derived from a Prakrit dialect called Dhaka Bhasa; Dhakka used in the Rajtarangini for a watch-station; or it is the same as Davaka, mentioned in the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta as an eastern frontier kingdom.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)