English words from India


An addition to my similar pages on words from Chinese, Arabic and Amerindian languages. The main sources are the OED and the AHD. Any word from the subcontinent is fair game, but not Persia.

Language family color-coding: Indo-European; Dravidian; Semitic; Sino-Tibetan; Austronesian; Altaic; Japanese.

--M.R.




anaconda - Sinhalese henakandayā perhaps ← Dravidian
arhat
- Sanskrit arhat ‘deserving’
ashram
- Sanskrit asrama ‘hermitage’
Atman
- Sanskrit atmān ‘essence’
Ayurvedic
- Sanskrit ayur-veda ‘science of life or medicine’
baboo
- Hindi bābū ‘father’
Bahasa (as in Bahasa Indonesia) - MalaySanskrit bhasa ‘language’
bandanna
- PortugueseHindi bāndhnū ‘tie-dyeing’
bangle
- Hindi baŋgrī ‘glass bracelet’
basmati
- Hindi basmati ‘fragrant’
begum
- Urdu begam Eastern Turkish bigim ‘princess’
beryl
- GreekDravidian Vēlūr, a toponym
betel
- PortugueseMalayalam veṭṭila
bhang
- Urdu bhang Sanskrit bhanga ‘hemp’
birka
- Hindi burqaArabic
biryani
- HindiPersian biryan ‘fried, roasted’
blighty- Hindi bilāyatī ‘foreign’ ← Arabic wilāyat ‘district’ ← wilaya ‘rule’
bonze
- Japanese bonsōMandarin fánsēng ‘Buddhist monk’; fánSanskrit brāhman.as ‘Brahmin’
bo (tree)
- Sinhalese bo Sanskrit bodhi- ‘perfect knowledge’
Bodhisattva
- Sanskit bodhi ‘perfect knowledge’ + sattvā ‘being’
bosh
(fiddle) - Romani bosh- ‘crow, fiddle’ ← Sanskrit vas- ‘bellow’
Brahmin
- Sanskrit brāhman.as brahman ‘praise, worship’
Buddha
- Sanskrit buddha ‘enlightened’ ← budh ‘awake, perceive’
bund
- Hindi band ← Persian
bungalow
- Gujarati bangaloHindi banglā ‘Bengali’’
candy
- short for ‘sugar candy’ ← ‘sugar’ + Arabic qandi ‘candied’ ← qand ‘cane sugar’ ← Dravidian, cf. Tamil kan.ṭu
carambola
- Marathi karanbal
cash
(type of coin) - Tamil kācu ← Sanskrit karša, a measure of weight
catamaran
- Tamil katta-maram ‘tied wood’
chakra
- Sanskrit chakra (cognate to ‘wheel’!)
cheetah
- Hindi cītāSanskrit citrakāya ‘speckled-body’
cheroot
- FrenchTamil shurutti ‘roll’
China
- Sanskrit Chīna ← (probably) Mandarin Qín dynasty
china
(ware) - Persian chīnī— the first (17th century) citations in English are apt to be spelled chiney, cheney— ← Sanskrit Chīna (q.v.)
chintz
- Hindi chīn.tSanskrit citra ‘many-colored’
chit
- Hindi chiṭṭha ‘pass’ ← Sanksrit citra ‘many-colored’
chop
- Hindi chhāp ‘imprint’
chukker
- Hindi chakkar ‘circle’ ← Sanskrit chakra
chutney
- Hindi chaṭni
congee
- Tamil kañji
coolie - Hindi kulī (perhaps the name of a tribe)
copra - Malayalam kopparaHindi khopprā ‘coconut’
corundum
- Tamil kurundamSanskrit kuruvinda ‘ruby’
cosh
- Romani kosh ‘stick, skewer’
cot
- Hindi khat ‘couch, hammock’
cowrie
- Hindi kauri Sanskrit kaparda
cummerbund
- Urdu kamar-band ‘loin-band’
curry
- Tamil kari ‘relish for rice’
cushy - Hindi khush ‘pleasant’ ← Persian
dacoit
- Hindi dakait, from daka ‘gang robbery’ ← Sanskrit dashtaka ‘crowded’
dal
- Hindi dal ‘split pulse’
dharma
- Sanksrit dharma ‘decree, custom’
dhoti
- Hindi dhōti
dinghy - Hindi ḍīn.‘small boat’
dungaree
- Hindi dungrī, a toponym
eka-
(chemical prefix) - Sanksrit eka ‘one’
gadjo
- Romani
ganja
- Hindi ganjha
ghat
- Hindi ghāt ‘quay’
ghee
- Hindi ghī Sanskrit ghr.ta ‘sprinkling’
ginger
- Sanskrit śr.ñ-gaveram ‘horn-body’
godown
- Malay gadongTelugu gidangi ‘place where goods lie’
Gondwanaland
- Sanskrit gondavana, name of a forest
guar (gum)
- Hindi guar
gunny (sack)
Hindi gōnīSanskrit gon.ī
guru
- Hindi gurū ‘venerable one’ ← Sanskrit guruh ‘heavy, venerable’
gymkhana
- Hindi gend-khana ‘ball-house’
Hare Krishna
- Hindi hare ‘oh God!’ + ‘Krishna’
harijan
- Sanksrit harijana = Hari ‘Vishnu’ + -jana ‘person’
hatha yoga
- Sanksrit hatha ‘force, violence’ + yoga
Himalayas
- Sanskrit hima ‘snow’ + alaya ‘dwelling
Hindi
- Hindi Hindī ‘Indian’ ← Persian hind; cf. India
Hindu
- Hindi Hindū ‘an Indian’ ← Persian hind; cf. India
hookah
- UrduArabic huqqah ‘vase, bottle’
howdah
- Urdu haudah Arabic haudaj
India
- Greek Indía Old Persian hiñd’u Sanskrit sindhu ‘(Indus) river’
indigo
- PortugueseGreek indikón ‘of India’, cf. India
juggernaut - Hindi Jagannath Sanskrit Jagannatha ‘lord of the world’
jungle
- Hindi jāngal ‘wasteland’ ← Sanskrit jāngala ‘desert’
jute
- Bengali jhōṭoSanskrit jūṭa
Kama Sutra - Sanksrit kama ‘love’ + sutra
khalsa
- Urdu khaliçah Arabic khaliç ‘pure, real’
Kshatriya
- Sanksrit kshatriyakshatra ‘rule, authority’
lacquer
- Hindi lākh ‘resin’
lakh
- Hindi lakh
lama
- Tibetan blama
lascar
- PortugueseUrdu lashkar ‘army
lingam
- Sanskrit liŋga ‘distinctive mark, penis’
loot
- Hindi lūṭSanskrit loptra ‘booty’
maharajah
- Hindi maharaja ‘great king’; maha is cognate to Greek mega-
mahatma
- Sanksrit mahatman ‘great-souled’
mahout
- Hindi mahaut
mandarin
- Hindi mantrī ‘counsellor’
mango
- PortugueseMalay maŋga Tamil mānkāy ‘mango fruit’
mantra
- Sanskrit mantra ‘prayer’
maya
- Sanskrit māyā
mongoose
- Marathi mangūsTelugu mangisu
mullah
- Urdu mulla Arabic mawla
musk
- LatinGreekSanskrit muşka ‘scrotum’
nabob
- FrenchUrdu nawwab ‘deputy governor’
namaste
- HindiSanskrit námas ‘bowing’ + te dative of ‘you’
nan
- Hindi nān
narc
- Romani nak ‘nose’
nard
- LatinGreekSanskrit nalada
orange
- FrenchSpanishArabic naranj Sanskrit naranga
pagoda
- PortugueseDravidianSanskrit bhagavati ‘holy’
pajamas
- Urdu payjamah Persian pay ‘foot’ + jamah ‘garment’
pal
- RomaniSanskrit bhrātar- ‘brother’
palanquin
- PortugueseJavanese pēlangki Sanskrit palyanka ‘bed’
pariah
- Tamil paraiyar, a caste ← parai ‘drum’
patchouli
- Tamil paccilai ‘green leaf’
pepper - LatinSanskrit pippalī ‘berry’
polo
- Balti polo
Prakrit
- Sanskrit prakrta ‘natural, vulgar’
punch
- perhaps from Hindi panch ‘five’; OED finds it unlikely
pundit - Hindi panḍit Sanskrit panḍita ‘learned’ ← Telugu pan.ḍa ‘wisdom’
purdah
- Urdu pardah ‘veil, curtain’
puttee
- Hindi patti ‘band(age)’ ← Sanskrit patta ‘bandage’
raga
- Sanskrit raga ‘color, passion, melody’
raj
- Hindi rāj ‘realm’
rajah
- Hindi rājā ‘king’ ← Sanskrit rājan (cognate to Latin rex)
rakshasa
- Sanskrit rakshasa ‘demon’ ← rakshas ‘to be guarded against’
rupee
- Hindi rupaīyāSanskrit rūpya ‘wrought silver’
sadhu
- Sanskrit sadhū ‘holy man’
sahib
- UrduArabic çahib ‘friend’
sandhi
- Sanskrit samdhī ‘junction’
samosa
- Hindi samosā
sandalwood
- LatinGreekSanskrit candanah.
Sanskrit
- Sanskrit samskrta ‘perfected, well-formed’
sari
- Hindi sār.ī Sanskrit śāṭī ‘cloth’
sarong
- Malay sarung Sanksrit saranga ‘variegated’
satyagraha
- Sanskrit satya ‘truth’ + graha ‘pertinacity’
sepoy
- Urdu sipahi ‘horseman’ ← Persian sipah ‘army’
shaman
- Russian ← Tungusic ← Sanskrit śraman.ás ‘ascetic’
shampoo
- Hindi chāmpo ‘press, massage’
shawl
- FrenchUrduPersian shal
sherpa
- Tibetan sharpa ‘easterner’
shri
- Sanskrit srī ‘Lakshmi’
shrub
(drink) - UrduArabic shurb ‘beverage’ ← shariba ‘drink’
sitar
- Hindi sitār ‘three-stringed’
soma
(Vedic liquor) - Sanskrit soma
stupa
- Sanskrit stūpa ‘tuft of hair’
Sudra
- Sanskrit śūdra
sutra
- Sanskrit sutra ‘thread, string’
sugar
- FrenchArabicPersianSanskrit śarkarā ‘gravel, sugar’
suttee
- Sanskrit satī ‘virtuous woman’
swami
- Hindi svāmī ‘master’ ← Sanskrit svāmin
swastika
- Sanksrit svastikaSanskrit svasti ‘well-being’
tandoor
- Urdu tandur Turkish tandir Arabic tannūr ‘oven’
tank - possibly Gujarati tānkh 'water reservoir'
tantra - Sanskrit tantra ‘loom, system, doctrine’
teak
- Malayalam tekka
thug
- Hindi ṭhagSanskrit sthaga ‘robber’
tikka
- Hindi tikka
toddy
- Hindi tār.ī ‘palm sap’ ← Sanskrit tāla Dravidian
tom-tom
- Hindi ṭamṭam (imitative)
Upanishad
- Sanskrit upa ‘near’ + nishad ‘lie down’
veda
- Sanskrit veda ‘knowledge’ (cognate to ‘wit’)
veranda
- Hindi varandaPortuguese
vindaloo - HindiPortuguese vin d'alho ‘wine with garlic’
wallah - Hindi -wala, a nominalizer
yak
- Tibetan γyag
yeti
- Tibetan yeh-teh ‘little manlike animal’
yoga
- HindiSanskrit yoga ‘union’
yogi - Hindi yogīSanskrit yogin
yoni
- Sanskrit yōni ‘abode, womb’
Zen
- JapaneseMandarin chán(nà) ‘meditation’ ← Sanskrit dhyāna

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