Hindi Words English Quietly Borrowed
Launch library · evergreen read
English has absorbed a surprising number of Hindi (हिंदी) and related South Asian words over centuries of contact, often without speakers realising the origin at all. Bungalow, pyjamas and shampoo all trace back to Hindi or related languages. This borrowing runs in both directions today, with English words like school.
Doctor and computer used comfortably within everyday spoken Hindi, a natural, ongoing exchange rather than a one time historical event. Learners may enjoy noticing these borrowed words as a small, encouraging reminder that Hindi and English have already been in conversation for a very long time, long before any individual learner began their own studies.
Learners can turn this into a small ongoing game, keeping a running list of English words suspected to have South Asian roots and checking each one, a genuinely enjoyable way to build curiosity about language history alongside vocabulary itself. Dictionaries specialising in word origins are a genuinely enjoyable resource for learners who want to trace these borrowings further on their own.