Religious terms

A search through some dictionaries has indicated that much of Gujarati religious terminology had its origin in foreign languages. For instance, the English equivalent of maachi is "ex-voto” which comes from Latin and means "according to vow.” The word for chasni­wala is "nethinium” which comes from Hebrew, meaning menial servants of a temple. Loban is "frankincense” in English, which comes from the French "franc encenes” meaning pure incense and also from the Latin "incendere” meaning to enkindle or inflame. The English equivalent of afargan is "andiron” coming from the old French word "andier” which means a utensil for holding a wood fire.

Dr P. D. SUNAVALA