कर्कट

From Proto-Indo-Aryan *karkartas, according to Pokorny, related to कर्कर (karkara, “hard”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂er- (“hard”) (see also Welsh crach (“crust”), Proto-Slavic *rakъ (“crayfish”)). Latin cancer and Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab”) could also be related, but this is uncertain.

More likely from a substrate language, and possibly cognate with Santali ᱠᱟᱴᱠᱚᱢ (kaṭkôm); however, this is uncertain, as the latter could also be from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kt₁aam. However, the Santali word is definitely not borrowed from Sanskrit; and a borrowing from Munda languages into Sanskrit is not verifiable.

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /kɐɾ.kɐ.ʈɐ/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /ˈkɐɾ.kɐ.ʈɐ/

कर्कट • (karkaṭa) stem, m

1. crab
2. (astrology) the sign Cancer
3. a particular bird
4. (botany) name of several plants (clarification of this definition is needed)
5. the fibrous root of a plant
6. the curved end of the beam of a balance (to which the strings supporting the scale are attached)
7. a pair of compasses in a particular position
8. a particular position of the hands
9. a kind of fever
10. a kind of coitus

• Monier Williams (1899) “कर्कट”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 0256.
• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), Bern, München: Francke Verlag