The English Oracle

Etymology of Juggernaut

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Track title: Romantic Lands Beckon

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Chapters
00:00 Etymology Of Juggernaut
01:31 Accepted Answer Score 2
02:05 Thank you

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Tags
#etymology

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ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 2


It sounds like you have almost all the information there.

The -nath ending almost certainly turned into -naut due to a false association with the Greek word for a sailor, as in Argonaut (sailor of the Argo), astronaut (sailor of the stars), etc.

There aren't really two different connotations to the word; as your post indicates, the term was originally applied to any large, heavy vehicle, emphasizing unstoppability and a likeliness to crush everything in its path. Later, that usage was extended to things that are more metaphorically huge and unstoppable, like an army campaign or a pervasive idea.