English Words...Indian Origin, The List

english words of indian origin,english-indian words

Ok, so we all know about Shampoo and Veranda. (See below 3:10 into the vid!)

Aside from the above, theres a fairly large list of English words that have Indian origin. Why do I care you ask? Well it's Monday for starters, you know the most fun packed day of the week(!)

Anyway lets get to it (thanks to Answers.com)...

Hindi words

bangle  from bāngṛī बांगड़ी, a type of bracelet

bazaar  from bāzār बाज़ार, a marketplace

blighty  from vilāyatī विलायती, foreigner caravan  from kārvān कारवाँ, moving house

chai  from chāy चाय, tea made with spices, commonly cardamom chit  from chitthi, a letter or note

cot  from khāt, खाट, a portable bed

loot  from lūtnā लूटना, to loot

pukka  from pakkā पक्का, cooked, ripe, solid

sentry  from Santri, an armed guard

sepoy  from Sepahi, a soldier

shampoo  from champu, a scalp massage

thug  from thag ठग, meaning thief

teapoy  from Tipaya, a three legged stool

toddy  from tārī ताड़ी, juice of the palmyra palm

pajama  from Payjamo, a garment worn as a trouser

jungle  from jungle, another word for forest

kamarband  from Kamar Bandh, meaning waist band or waist cloth

Other Words

• Bandicoot, from pandikoku (Telugu)
• Dhole, from tOla (Kannada)
• Doolally, "mad, insane" from the town of Deolali, where British officers were said to develop a strange mental illness
• Mongoose, from mungeesa (Telugu) or mungusi (Kannada)
• Calico, from Calicut, a town and district of Kerala, (Malayalam)
• Coir, from kayar, (Malayalam as well as Tamil, most probably Malayalam)
• Copra, from koppara, (Tamil as well as Malayalam)
• Jack fruit from Chakka, (Malayalam )
• Mango, from maanga (Tamil as well as Malayalam)
• Teak, from taekku (Tamil as well as Malayalam)
• Jute (Bengali)
• Pajamas (Hindustani)
• Polo (Balti)
• Bungalow from Bungla (Urdu) (lit. a house in the Bengal style) - a large house, typically with a sloping, tiled roof
• Shampoo from Champi (Hindi) - A head massage with some kind of oil or treacly mixture just before a bath
• Atoll from Maldivian - ring of coral enclosing a lagoon
• Curry from Tamil
• Catamaran from "kattumaram" - Tamil and Malayalam
• Tourmaline, from tōramallī (Sinhala) - cornelian, tourmaline

So yeah now you know these words, you can use them, impress your dad or grandad who are forever banging on about how all these (useless?) words are Indian (or is that just something that happens in our family !)

If you know anymore...feel free to drop them here!