List of English words of Indian origin

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This is a list of words in the English language that originated in the languages of India.

Hindi or Urdu

Kannada

Malayalam

Sanskrit

Tamil

Telugu

Other languages

Adda, from Bengali, a group of people
Bhut jolokia, from Assamese (ভূত জলকীয়া Bhut Zôlôkiya), a hot chili found in Assam and other parts of Northeast India
Jute from Bengali, a fiber

Marathi

Doolally, from Marathi word देवळाली. "mad, insane" from the town of Deolali^[1]
Mongoose, from Marathi word मुंगूस (Muṅgūsa)

References

↑ "70 words of Indian origin | Resource pack for teachers" (PDF). British Council. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2025.

External links

Etymology of Selected Words of Indian Language Origin Archived 2014-02-20 at the Wayback Machine in Colonial & Postcolonial Literary Dialogues

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