Etymological tradition of Vedas in Hindu Religion goes back into ancient history. In Vedic tradition, the text and its full and correct articulation had priority, with the result that the meaning of certain words tended to become obscure. In order to meet this challenge and to make the meanings well known, these obscure words were collected together in a work called Nighantu, in three sections.
The section carries 1341 words in 69 groups of synonyms with meanings. Around 278 more difficult words were treated in the second section, and the third section carries 121 of such words.
For these 1740 words, a Vedic etymologist named Yaska wrote his work called Nirukta, which gave full etymologies for these words, extracting alongside passages from Vedas where those words occur, being a unique feat towards the preservation of Vedic tradition in respect of Vedic works.