Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·South Asia ·1750s
Bandana
from bāndhnū
- Meaning
- A tie-dye technique (from Sanskrit *bandhana*, binding) — and the patterned cloth it produced.
- Source word
- bāndhnū
- Route into English
- Hindi → Portuguese trade English → British English. The word followed the textile: Indian tie-dyed cloth exported to Europe and named for the technique.
- Arrived
- 1750s
From South Asia
Three centuries of British colonial contact — East India Company, Raj, military, domestic life — deposited a distinct Hindi/Urdu/Bengali/Sanskrit layer in everyday English.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.