Purana Look up Purana at Dictionary.com
ancient Sanskrit writings of a legendary character, 1690s, from Sanskrit puranah, literally "ancient, former," from pura "formerly, before," cognate with Greek paros "before," pro "before," Avestan paro "before," Old English fore, from PIE *pre-, from root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per). Related: Puranic.