Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·South Asia ·1610s
Cummerbund
from kamar-band
- Meaning
- A waist sash worn with formal evening dress.
- Source word
- kamar-band
- Route into English
- Persian *kamar* (waist) + *band* (tie) → Hindi/Urdu → British officer dress in India → English formalwear. Adopted as a cooler alternative to woollen waistcoats, then moved into Western eveningwear.
- Arrived
- 1610s
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.
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