Ladakh

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mountainous region in the far north of India, high in the Himalayas, known for its Buddhist monasteries and cold desert landscape
2. A remote, high-altitude territory in northern India characterized by towering peaks, arid valleys and ancient monasteries
3. The rugged Himalayan district of northern India, famed for its Tibetan Buddhist culture and barren, high-elevation scenery

Etymology: Ladakh is the name of a high-altitude region in the far north of India, and the name itself is a compound of two Tibetan words. In Tibetan, "la" means "mountain pass" and "dwags" means "high country" or "heights," so the name describes a land of high passes. The Tibetan phrase "la dwags" passed into Persian as "ladāx," and from there into Hindustani as "laddāx," which is the form the region is known by today. The route the name took matters as much as its meaning. Persian was the language of administration and trade across much of South Asia, so the name travelled along the same caravan and courtly networks that carried goods and ideas between Central Asia and India. Hindustani, the common language of the north, then gave it the spelling and pronunciation English speakers now recognise.