Moksha: an etymological note

Vedic/Sanskrit moksha (Thai mokkh) is attested as early as pre-Rgveda, from the root muc, or moc (Lubotsky) as a verb, meaning 'to release, be/become free, liberate, set free.' It holds a range of further implications, 'to shed (as leaves, feathers, hair or skin)'; 'to cast off (a bodily covering)' (cf English molting); 'to slacken, unloose, untie'; and likewise indicates something 'transformed, emancipated, liberated, given up, released.' It is likely derived from PIE base *mei-, 'to change, exchange,' 'to move, go.' Compare Sanskrit methati, 'changes, alternates, joins, meets,' and may also be a cognate of Latin mutare, 'liable to change,' and Latin meare, 'to pass'; meare is the second part of the English word permeable and appears as well in Greek amoibe, Ancient Greek ameíbō (ᾰ̓μείβω) 'change, exchange,' the root of the English word amoeba, characterized by its constantly changing shape. Compare English mutable (attested c.1374).