kuru
/ˈkʊ.ɹuː/ noun, proper noun
- noun A chronic, progressive, fatal central nervous system disease found mainly among the Fore and neighboring peoples of New Guinea, caused by a prion that probably resembles the scrapie agent of sheep, transmissible to nonhuman primates, and believed to be transmitted by ritual cannibalism.
- proper noun (Hinduism, historical) an ancient kingdom, mentioned in the Mahabharata.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Fore kúru (literally “trembling, shivering”). Perhaps eventually from Proto-Gorokan *kút(V) (“dangling, shaking”) if cognate with the reduplicated element of Yagaria gúli gúli hu- (“be loose, rattle”).
Borrowed from Sanskrit कुरु (kuru).
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “kuru”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details