--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Kishore patnaik"
<kishorepatnaik09@...> wrote:
> The word Druh has a very special connotation.
> It means violation or molestation of (an established) Order.
> Interestingly, the word Druh also has a meaning priest, like in
> Asuradruh (Sage Sukra) from which the word Druid (the Celtic priest)
> seems to have been derived.
Monier-Williams translates 'asuradruh' as 'enemy of the asuras', which
seems a much simpler explanation.
The PIE root of _druh_ is *dHreugH (cf. Sanskrit future
_dHro:ks.yati_), and it seems very odd for the velar to have dropped
from the 'Druid' word - Latin _druidae_, _druides_ < Gaulish
_druides_, with Irish also evidencing the second /d/. (Welsh
_derwyddon_ 'druids' derives from Celtic *derwijes.) The usually
suggested etymologies for 'druid' are from *derwos 'true' (so =
'soothsayer') and from the 'tree' word (PIE *deru or similar), which
often has the meaning 'oak'. (It is also suggested that these two
roots are themselves etymologically related.)
Richard.