Hindi Word in English: Shampoo

The first use of "shampoo" in English was in the late 18th century as a verb meaning "to massage." The word was borrowed from the Hindi champo, an imperative form of champna meaning "to press, knead." The Hindi word is likely from Sanskrit capayati, "pounds, kneads."

Before the spelling "shampoo" became regularized in English, you could see it spelled "champoe."

The modern meaning of "shampoo" as "washing the hair" dates to 1860. You can read a detailed history about shampoo in this Wikipedia article: Shampoo.

Photo by Kerry Lannert at Flickr.