charkha
English
Alternative forms
- churka
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindustani چرخہ (carxa) / चरख़ा (carxā), from Classical Persian چرخ (čarx), from Middle Persian 𐫝𐫍𐫡 (chr /čahr/, “wheel, cycle”), from Proto-Iranian *čaxrám, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *čakrám, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos (“wheel, circle”). Doublet of chakra, chakram, chukker, cycle, cyclus, and wheel.
Noun
charkha (plural charkhas)
- (Pakistan, India) A domestic spinning wheel, used mostly for spinning cotton.
Further reading
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “churka”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 248.