List of English words of Indian origin

Last updated June 13, 2025

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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[1] "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.

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