kerū

See also: keru

Tocharian B

Etymology

Related to Tocharian A karel, both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- (“to do, make”), the source of many IE words meaning "cauldron", similar to the shape of a drum. Given the semantic shift from "making" > "vessel for making things in" > "thing shaped like that vessel", and that only the first meaning exists in PIE, it can be assumed that there was an unattested original form (perhaps in Proto-Tocharian) that meant "cauldron" or the like. Compare Proto-Germanic *hweraz, Old Irish coire, Russian чара (čara), Sanskrit चरु (caru, “bowl”), etc.

Noun

kerū m

1. (music) drum

Further reading

• Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) “kerū”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 209