How many words from Hindi and Urdu do you know? Well, if you’re one of the approximately 70 million speakers of Urdu and 425 million of Hindi, then, well, you know a lot鈥攁nd that’s only counting native speakers. Millions more speak Urdu and Hindi as a second language all around the globe, making them, combined, one of the most spoken languages.听
But even if you don’t speak Hindi or Urdu, you actually use more words that derive, along one route or another, from these sister languages than you realize! So put down your your cup of chai (which means “tea,” so you really don’t need to say “chai tea”!) and read on.
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What are Urdu and Hindi?
Many English speakers may not know they are using words that come from Hindi and Urdu. Many鈥攍et’s be honest鈥攎ay not know, exactly, what these languages are.
Modern Hindi and Urdu both derive from a common language called Hindustani, a language of South Asia used as what’s known as a lingua franca in Northern India and Pakistan. Both Hindi and Urdu (and their parent, Hindustani) are what linguists call Indic or Indo-Aryan languages, which are part of a larger language family known as Indo-European. That means languages ranging from Irish to Greek to, yes, English all share a common ancestor, as unrelated as they may seem.
The development of modern Hindi and Urdu are complex, their differences developing in large part based on religion. When colonial British India was split into India and Pakistan in 1947, Hindi became an official language of India (a majority Hindu country) and Urdu, of Pakistan (majority Muslim). Other major differences between Hindi and Urdu are that Hindi is written in a script called Devanagari with many words from听Sanskrit while Urdu is written in a modified Arabic script with many words from Persian and Arabic.
Another major commonality of Hindi and Urdu is that a lot of the words English borrowed from these languages were the result, lest we forget, of British colonialism and imperialism. But for all the complexity, past and present, of Hindi and Urdu, many of the words that made their way into English are, well, surprisingly common and everyday.
Here are 11 English words that derive from Hindi and Urdu. (Keep in mind that the two languages are so closely intertwined, there may exist a version of each word in both.)
shampoo
Yep, that shower staple that keeps your hair and scalp clean has Hindi鈥揢rdu origins. First evidence of the word shampoo can be found around 1755鈥�65. It comes from the word听肠丑补尘辫辞,听meaning 鈥渢o massage,鈥� which is a form of the Hindi word听肠腻尘辫苍腻, “to press.”
jungle
This word, which we use to describe 鈥渁 wild land overgrown with dense vegetation鈥� stems from the Hindi word 箩补峁単补濒. That word in turn came from the听Sanskrit word听箩补峁単补濒a听meaning 鈥渞ough, waterless place.鈥� First evidence of it in the English language dates back to 1770鈥�80.
thug
While the term thug听has evolved over the years in use and meaning, first evidence of the word is found around 1800鈥�10. It comes from the Hindi word thag, which means 鈥�rogue, cheat.鈥�
pajamas
While these days you may stay in them all day, this word typically used to refer to night clothes. First evidence of it in the English language can be found around 1870鈥�75. It鈥檚 a variant of the Urdu and Hindi word 辫腻测箩腻尘补, which stems from the Persian words 辫腻测, meaning 鈥渓eg鈥� and听 箩腻尘补, meaning 鈥済arment.鈥澨�
veranda听
Sipping a little something (sweet tea, perhaps) on a veranda seems like such a Southern thing, but the origins of the word aren鈥檛. It, in fact, comes from the Hindi words 产补谤补峁囜笉腻 and 产补谤腻尘诲腻, which stem from the Persian phrase听bar 膩mada岣�, meaning 鈥渃oming out.鈥� It may ultimately derive from the Spanish word baranda, which means 鈥渞ailing, balustrade.鈥澨�
pundit
These days, there are self-proclaimed pundits aplenty, particularly in the political arena. The term, which dates back to 1665鈥�75, stems from the Hindi word 辫补峁囜笉颈迟, which comes from the Sanskrit word 辫补峁囜笉颈迟a meaning 鈥渓earned man.鈥� How learned some of our pundits today are is up for debate.
juggernaut听
Today, we use this word meaning 鈥渁ny large, overpowering, destructive force鈥� to describe everything from COVID-19 to an opposing football team. Marvel Comics even bestowed it as the name of one of its characters. First evidence of the word, however, dates back to around 1630鈥�40. It stems from the Hindi word 闯补驳补苍苍腻迟丑, which comes from the Sanskrit word 闯补驳补苍苍腻迟丑a, meaning 鈥渓ord of the world.鈥�
loot
While it can be used in various forms, at its root, the word loot is used to describe 鈥渟poils or plunder taken by pillaging.鈥� Looters loot听during times of chaos, such as after a natural disaster or during war, but we also use the word in a more positive sense, such as when we refer to the candy kids get on Halloween as their loot 鈥� though dentists may disagree with how positive that really is.听
First evidence of the word is found in the 1780s. It stems from the Hindi word 濒奴峁�, which is equivalent to the Sanskrit word lotra, loptra meaning听“booty, spoil.鈥�
khaki
The noun (and adjective) khaki also entered the English from Persian via Urdu. In Persian, 办丑腻办墨听means “dusty.”听Khaki, of course, can refer to both a color and a fabric in English.
punch
Here鈥檚 a fun party fact to pack away for the next time you want to make conversation around the punch bowl. The word for this festive drink is said to stem from the Hindi word panch, which means 鈥渇ive,鈥� as it was originally made up of five ingredients, probably听alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices. First evidence of the word dates back to 1625鈥�35.
cushy
If something involves “little effort for ample rewards” or is “soft and comfortable,” it’s听cushy. This word is partly a borrowing from Urdu (岣祏拧墨)听and partly from Persian. It is first recorded in English relatively recently: 1900鈥�15.
And now that you’ve added some word origin facts to your vocab (not always a cushy task), it’s time to give yourself a break. Go ahead and sip a little punch on your veranda; we’ll be lounging in pajamas!
