Language and derivations
From the Oxford English Dictionary
In Indian Philosophy: a spiritual and ascetic discipline, the ultimate aim of which is spiritual purification and self-understanding leading to samadhi (samadhi n.), or union with the divine. Now also more generally: the practice of some aspects of this discipline undertaken primarily as an aid to health or well-being, typically consisting of controlled breathing and the adoption of specific physical postures which stretch or strengthen the body, sometimes in combination with meditation.Yoga is referred to as one of the six systems of Indian philosophy and is an integral part of Hinduism. There are a number of traditions and techniques. During the course of the 20th cent. elements of the discipline became popular in the West as a means of relaxation and exercise. This form of yoga is primarily based on hatha yoga (hatha yoga n.).
yoga, n.
Forms:
α. 17 jog, 17 yog.
β. 18 yogu, 18– yoga.
Also with capital initial.
Origin: A borrowing from Sanskrit. Etymons: Sanskrit yoga, yog.
Etymology: < Sanskrit yoga (also with vernacular pronunciations yog, jog), specific use of yoga act of yoking, act of joining, yoked team of animals, employment, endeavour, act of applying oneself to a task, etc. < the same Indo-European base as yoke n.1
In Indian Philosophy: a spiritual and ascetic discipline, the ultimate aim of which is spiritual purification and self-understanding leading to samadhi (samadhi n.), or union with the divine. Now also more generally: the practice of some aspects of this discipline undertaken primarily as an aid to health or well-being, typically consisting of controlled breathing and the adoption of specific physical postures which stretch or strengthen the body, sometimes in combination with meditation.Yoga is referred to as one of the six systems of Indian philosophy and is an integral part of Hinduism. There are a number of traditions and techniques. During the course of the 20th cent. elements of the discipline became popular in the West as a means of relaxation and exercise. This form of yoga is primarily based on hatha yoga (hatha yoga n.).
See also ashtanga n., Bikram yoga n., power yoga n. at power n.1 Compounds 3, raja yoga n.
1785 C. Wilkins tr. Bhăgvăt-Gēētā 40 Let the motive be in the deed, and not in the event... Make the event equal, whether it terminate in good or evil; for such an equality is called Yōg [Skr. yoga].
1788 Asiatick Res. 1 127 Botho Beesworaato..[was] expert in performing the Jog.
1811 W. Ward Acct. Hindoos I. 344 Yōgŭ is the restraining the mind from wandering and fixing it on God.
1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 657/2 Yoga..chiefly consists in a continual meditation on the sacred monosyllable Om,..profound contemplation of the divine excellence, and various acts of self-denial... The Yoga is often practised for the purpose of obtaining the eight magical properties of power... In the Purân'as and other works, Yoga very often means magic.
1891 A. E. Gough Philos. Upanishads & Anc. Indian Metaphysics viii. 212 The practice of Yoga, or the fixation of the body and limbs in a rigid and insensible posture, and the crushing of every feeling, desire, and thought in order to rise to the ecstatic vision of and re-union with the Self.
1907 A. W. Besant Introd. Yoga i. 6 You can study the laws of the whole, and in Yoga you learn to apply those same laws to your own consciousness rationally and definitely.
1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) iii. i. 308 She took all sorts of lessons: gourmet cooking,..macramé, origami, yoga.
2001 R. Muni Yoga (ed. 2) Pref. p. xiii We stand in need of a spiritual discipline that enables us to understand and harmoniously master the workings of the human psyche. Yoga is such a system.
2007 Inside Bay Area (Calif.) (Nexis) 27 Dec. For years, yoga has been a widely-known exercise regimen that connects the body with the mind and the spirit.
religion, n.
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French religioun; Latin religiōn-, religiō.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman religioun, religiun, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French religion (French religion ) system of beliefs and practices based on belief in, or acknowledgement of, some superhuman power or powers, also any particular such system (both first half of the 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman, originally in commune religion , translating post-classical Latin catholica religio ; the figurative use in sense 4b is apparently not paralleled in French until later (c1810)), monastery (c1130 in Anglo-Norman), religious house (1139 in Anglo-Norman), action or conduct indicating belief in, obedience to, and reverence for a god, gods, or similar superhuman power, piety, devotion (c1145), state of life bound by religious vows (c1150), scrupulousness, conscientiousness (c1210), religious order (end of the 13th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman), (specifically) Protestantism (1533 in ceulx de la religion the Protestants, lit. ‘those of the religion’) and its etymon classical Latin religiōn-, religiō supernatural feeling of constraint, usually having the force of a prohibition or impediment, that which is prohibited, taboo, positive obligation, rule, impediment to action proceeding from religious awe or conscience, scruple, manifestation of divine sanction, religious fear, awe, religious feeling, superstition, quality evoking awe or reverence, sanctity, religious observance, religious practice, ritual, particular system of religious observance, cult, conscientiousness, in post-classical Latin also monastic community (8th cent.), religious order, rule observed by a religious order (12th cent.) < re- re- prefix + a second element of uncertain origin; by Cicero connected with relegere to read over again (see relection n.), so that the supposed original sense of ‘religion’ would have been ‘painstaking observance of rites’, but by later authors (especially by early Christian writers) with religāre religate v., ‘religion’ being taken as ‘that which ties believers to God’. Each view finds supporters among modern scholars.
Compare Old Occitan religio (late 12th cent., earliest in sense ‘religious order’), Catalan religió (13th cent.), Spanish religión (end of the 12th cent.), Portuguese religião (13th cent.), Italian religione (second half of the 13th cent.). The Latin word was also borrowed into other Germanic languages: compare Middle Dutch, Dutch †religioen state of life bound by religious vows, religie system of faith and worship, belief in superhuman powers, etc., Middle Low German religiōn, religie, German Religion (early 16th cent.), Swedish religion (1539), Danish religion (16th cent.).
1. A state of life bound by religious vows; the condition of belonging to a religious order
also:
religion (n.)
c. 1200, "state of life bound by monastic vows," also "conduct indicating a belief in a divine power," from Anglo-French religiun (11c.), Old French religion "piety, devotion; religious community," and directly from Latin religionem (nominative religio) "respect for what is sacred, reverence for the gods; conscientiousness, sense of right, moral obligation; fear of the gods; divine service, religious observance; a religion, a faith, a mode of worship, cult; sanctity, holiness," in Late Latin "monastic life" (5c.).
According to Cicero derived from relegere "go through again" (in reading or in thought), from re-"again" (see re-) + legere "read" (see lecture (n.)). However, popular etymology among the later ancients (Servius, Lactantius, Augustine) and the interpretation of many modern writers connects it with religare "to bind fast" (see rely), via notion of "place an obligation on," or "bond between humans and gods." In that case, the re- would be intensive. Another possible origin is religiens"careful," opposite of negligens. In English, meaning "particular system of faith" is recorded from c. 1300; sense of "recognition of and allegiance in manner of life (perceived as justly due) to a higher, unseen power or powers" is from 1530s.
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