Word from India: khaki

The English word "khaki" is borrowed from the Urdu adjective khaki, meaning "dust-colored" or "dirt-colored," from the noun khak, meaning "dust, dirt, soil." The word is originally Persian in origin. The word became part of the English language from its use by the British cavalry in India, especially when they started using khaki-colored uniforms during the Boer wars (1899-1902).  In modern English, the plural form "khakis" refers to a khaki-colored pair of pants. You can read more in this Wikipedia article: Khaki.

(Punjabi soldiers in khaki uniforms)

Hindi Word in English: Sitar

The word SITAR comes from Hindi sitar, which in turn comes from Urdu/Persian sitar, meaning "three-stringed" (si-tar), although modern sitars have as many as twenty strings. You can read more about the history of the sitar in this Wikipedia article.

The painting below shows a woman with a sitar:

This YouTube video shows George Harrison's sitar lesson with the legendary sitar player Ravi Shanker:

Sanskrit Word in English: Baksheesh

The word "baksheesh" is usually used in English to mean a bribe, but the root meaning of the word is a tip or gift. The word comes from Persian bakshesh, and there is also a Sanskrit word bhiksha with the same meaning. In particular, the word can refer to charity given to beggars. You can read about baksheesh at Wikipedia.

The image below shows Indian beggars soliciting baksheesh:

There is also a Sanskrit word, bhikshatana, which means "wandering in search of bhiksha." The word is used to describe Shiva in his manifestation as a cosmic beggar, seeking alms. You can read more about Shiva Bhikshatana at Wikipedia.

The statue below shows Shiva as a seeker of alms:

Persian Word in English: Jujube

The English word JUJUBE is used for various types of candy. In the United States, jujubes have a hard consistency like resin. In other countries, jujube candies are softer and chewier. You can read more about jujube candies at Wikipedia.

The word itself comes from medieval Latin jujuba, from Greek zizyphon, which in turn comes from Persian zayzafun, referring to a tree which produces a date-like fruit. The tree is sometimes called the Chinese date or Indian date tree. The image below  shows some fresh jujube fruits.

The image below shows a box of Jujubes, the candy. The picture of the bee on the box reflects the pronunciation ju-ju-bee.

Turkish Word in English: Tulip

The English word "tulip" comes from Turkish tülbent, which is in turn from Persian dulband, meaning "turban." The flower was brought from Turkey to Europe in the 16th century. It Italian you can still see the -an ending, tulipano. But we lost that in English, making this delightful etymology less easy to discern.

I found this bit of version in Flora's Dictionary: A Treatise on the Language of Flowers. It is from Thomas Moore's poem The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan.

What triumph crowds the rich Divan to-day, 
With turban'd heads, of every hue and race, 
Bowing before that veil'd and awful face, 
Like tulip-beds, of different shape and dyes, 
Bending beneath th' invisible west-wind's sighs. 

(Wiktionary: Tulip) 

Turkish Word in English: Caviar

The English word CAVIAR comes from French caviar, which is in turn from Turkish khaviar. The word is surely not Turkish in origin, but it is unclear just where it comes from. It seems likely that the word comes from Persian khavyar, and for a detailed discussion of the etymology of the Persian word, see this item: Kneading a meaning: Etymology of Caviar.

Caviar is one of my favorite foods! This article at Gilded Fork provides an overview of the different kinds of caviar: Caviar: An Endangered Pleasure.

Urdu Word in English: Cheese

Did you know "the cheese," a.k.a. "the real cheese," also "the real chiz" has nothing to do with diary products? This British use of "cheese" is most likely from Persian chiz (a thing, something) via Urdu, and it was thus in India that it passed into British usage in the early 19th century. The Brits sometimes spelled it "the real chiz" but more often "the real cheese," and so "the real (Urdu) thing" became part of the English language. The real cheese.

Meanwhile, the phrase "big cheese" meaning an important person (even a self-important person) is an American usage, apparently influenced by very large cheese wheels from Wisconsin created as publicity stunts.

More on this delightful etymological confluence here at WorldWideWords.

(photo by Ann Marie Michaels at Flickr)

Urdu Word in English: Pajamas

The English word PAJAMAS comes to us from Urdu pajama, which is in turn from Persian pay-jamah, leg-clothing. The spelling "pajamas" is more common in the United States, while the spelling "pyjamas" is the common British spelling. You can read more about the history and variety of pajamas in this Wikipedia article.

In my family, they were always just called PJs or jammies. I've also heard them called jimjams!

Here's a cute picture of girls in their pajamas (by cobalt123 at Flickr... aka BJ Bolender):

Hindi Word in English: Seersucker

The English word SEERSUCKER refers to a puckered cotton fabric used for spring and summer clothing, and it was a popular clothing choice in the British colonial period. The word comes from Hindi sirsakar which in turn comes from Persian shir-o-shakkar, "milk-and-sugar," which refers metaphorically to the smooth-and-rough pattern of the cloth, as you can see in the image below.

So, no seers! no sucking! It is just the magic of word borrowing from one language to another to another!

Persian Word in English: Jackal

The English word "jackal" is from the Turkish çakal, which in turn comes from Persian shaghal. The Persian is either cognate with or derived from Sanskrit srgalas.

From the Oxford English Dictionary, I learned that in some English dialects the word was stressed on the second syllable, and thus sometimes spelled "jackcall" or even "Joe-caul" as in this citation from 1672: They must not be like the Joe-caul, which provides food for the Lyon.

Two of the most famous characters in the Indian storytelling tradition are the treacherous jackals, Karataka and Damanaka, of the Panchatantra. The jackals are named Kalila and Dimna in the Arabic version, known as Kalila-wa-Dimna. The image below is from a 15th-century Persian version of the story and shows one the jackals intriguing with the lion king:

Persian Word in English: Jasmine

We get the English word "jasmine" from French jasmin (compare Latin: jasminum). Jasmine was first cultivated in English in the 16th century.

The French word in turn comes from Arabic yasamin, which is borrowed from Persian yasmin. The word is also found in Middle Persian: yasaman.

The Greeks also borrowed this Persian word: iasme, which the medical writer Dioscorides used in reference to a Persian perfume, perhaps oil of jasmine.

From Abraham Cowley's Essays in Verse and Prose (1669), there are these lovely lines:

Who, that has Reason, and his Smell,
Would not among Roses and Jasmin dwell?
Rather then all his Spirits choak
With Exhalations of Durt and Smoak?

The image is from Wikipedia:

Persian Word in English: Bezoar

Fans of Harry Potter will be interested in today's word. The English word "bezoar" (yes, it really is an English word!) is something indigestible that is caught in the stomach or somewhere in the gastrointestinal system. For example, the indigestible parts of food (such as seeds or pits) can form bezoars. The trichobezoar, an extreme form of hairball, is a bezoar formed from hair.

Bezoars extracted from the digestive system (often called "bezoar stones") were supposed in medieval and early modern medicine to have medicinal value as an all-purpose antidote to poison. For more information about bezoars and poison, see this Wikipedia article: Bezoar.

The English word comes Latin lapis bezoarticus, which in turn is from Arabic bazahr, borrowed from Persian padzahr, meaning counter-poison,  pad-zahr (Arabic does not have a "p" sound, so the initial Persian "p" is voiced as "b").

The image below shows bezoar stones in the Pharmacy Museum of Heidelberg Castle, Germany.

Arabic Word in English: Alfalfa

The English plant name ALFALFA comes to us via Spanish alfalfa, which is from Arabic al-fasfasa. It is likely that the Arabic word comes from Middle Persian word, aspast. Alfalfa is also known by the name lucerne. Alfalfa is the name used in America, Canada, and Australia, while lucerne is the name used in the UK, South Africa and New Zealand.

The Roman agricultural writer Palladius praised alfalfa as a forage crop, and he called it by the name "Medica" because it was a plant supposed to come from the Medes who lived in ancient Persia. It is from this Latin name that alfalfa gets its scientific genus name: Medicago. Alfalfa was introduced to Spain during the Umayyad conquest in the eighth century, hence the use of the Arabic name al-fisfsa, which became Spanish alfalfa. You can read more about Alfalfa in this Wikipedia article.

The image below shows an alfalfa field:

Turkish Word in English: Sherbet

The English word SHERBET began its life in English as zerbet, from Turkish serbet, a drink made from sweetened fruit juice cooled with snow. The Turkish word in turn came from Persian sharbat and Arabic sharba, meaning a "drink," from the verb shariba, "drink."

In British English, "sherbet powder" is a fizzy powder sweet which can be eaten on its own or used to make a fizzy drink. You can read about the many varieties of sherbet powders in this Wikipedia article. In the world of Harry Potter, Dumbledore is very fond of "sherbet lemons," although in the U.S. version of the book, the text is changed to "lemon drops."

In the U.S., a sherbet (often pronounced "sherbert") is a frozen dessert like a sorbet, but with a small amount of milkfat. You can find a recipe for strawberry sherbet at the Eat-Drink-Love.com website.

Arabic Word in English: Lemon and Lime

The English words LEMON and LIME both come from Old French lymon, meaning "citrus fruit" (including both lemon and lime) which in turn comes from Arabic laimun, while the Arabic comes from Persian limu (again with the meaning "citrus fruit"), which is cognate with Sanskrit nimbu ("lime").

You can learn more about lemons and limes at Wikipedia.

The first image shows a lemon tree with its fruit and flower, and the second image shows limes on a lime tree:

Arabic Word in English: Demitasse

The English word DEMITASSE is a borrowing from French, meaning "half-cup," demi+tasse. The French word is in turn from the Arabic tassah, from Persian tasht, meaning a cup or a saucer. (Compare Italian tazza and Spanish taza.)

The noun demitasse is also used attributively as, for example, in the phrase "demitasse spoon."

The image below shows a demitasse cup of espresso:

Persian Word in English: Shawl

The word SHAWL comes to English via Urdu and other Indian languages from Persian shal, meaning a type of shawl made in Kashmir (cashmere) from the hair of a "shawl-goat." For a detailed history of the shawls of Kashmir, see this Wikipedia article.

The use of the word in English to refer not just to a "cashmere shawl" but to any type of oblong or rectangular cloth worn over the shoulders and upper body dates to the late 18th century.

The image below shows President Barack Obama receiving a red shawl as a gift from Sri Narayanachar Digalakote, a Hindu priest from Maryland:

Arabic Word in English: Sugar

The English word SUGAR comes to English via French sucre and medieval Latin succarum (zuccarum; via the medieval Latin variant saccharum we get the English word "saccharine"). These words came to Europe via Arabic sukkar. It seems fairly certain that this Arabic word comes from Persian shakar, which is in turn from Sanskrit sharkara, meaning "rock-candy sugar" (originally just "rock, grit, gravel").

The English word JAGGERY, referring to a dark brown sugar made in India from palm sap, comes via Portuguese jagara from Kannada sharkare, which in turns comes from Sanskrit sharkara, the same word that also led to English "sugar."

The image below shows different kinds of sugar: (clockwise from top left) white refined sugar, unrefined sugar, brown sugar and unprocessed cane sugar.

Sanskrit Word in English: Candy

The English word "candy" dates back to the late 13th century, borrowed from Old French phrase çucre candi "sugar candy" (there is also a medieval Latin form: saccharum candi).

The "candy" part of the phrase comes from Arabic qandi, "crystalized sugar," and likewise Persian kand (reborrowed later from Arabic as qand).

It seems likely that the Arabic and Persian words derive from Sanskrit khanda, "piece (of candied sugar)." It seems possible in turn that this Sanskrit word is a Dravidian borrowing; compare the Tamil word kantu, meaning "ball (of candied sugar)."

If you poke around on the Internet, you will find claims that the Arabic qandi has something to do with the island of Crete and sugar production there. This is a misunderstanding, however, probably prompted by the medieval Latin name for Crete, Candia (English "Candy"), which comes from the Arabic Khandaq, a place name having nothing to do with crystalized sugar.

The image below shows a cotton candy vendor in Tamil Nadu (photo by Abhijit at Flickr).

Persian Word in English: Julep

Most people have heard of "mint juleps" (even if you've never actually had one to drink). The English word "julep" originally meant a sweetened liquid, often used for medicine. In the United States, it has come to refer specifically to a drink made of bourbon (or some other liquor) with sugar, water, and ice, along with some kind of flavoring, such as mint.

The English word is borrowed from French julep; the medieval Latin is julapium. This Latin word is from the Arabic julāb, which is in turn from the Persian gul-āb rose-water. You can see the root "gul" in the title of a famous work of medieval Persian literature, Gulistan - "The Rose Garden" - by Sa'di.

Below is an image of a mint julep in a silver cup:

Now, truth be told,  while I am not a big fan of mint juleps, I am a very big fan of the Indian sweet called gulab jamun (you can see gulab/golab word in there) which has a rosewater syrup as one of its ingredients. Yum!