'Pradesh' refers to a province or territory in various South Asian languages. It derives from the Sanskrit प्रदेश pradeśa, meaning "sub-region" or "sub-country". The same word was borrowed into: * Thai as ประเทศ prathet, * Lao as ປະເທດ pathet and * Khmer as ប្រទេស prâtés , meaning "nation" or "country".