Swami Vigyananand of the Vishva Hindu Parishad caused some merriment on the weekend when he claimed at a conference that the word “industry” has its roots in the river Indus. When the British came to India and saw how advanced it was, he said, they coined the word “industry”.
“I am telling you the ‘industry’ word has come from us – Indus,” the joint general secretary of the VHP claimed at the World Hindu Economic Forum in Bangalore.
Most etymologists and dictionaries would disagree with Vigyananand – according to the Oxford English Dictionary, for instance, the word industry comes either from Old French or Latin. Despite the swami's unfounded claim, it's clear that Indian languages have contributed immensely to the richness of English.
As the Hobson-Jobson Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases and of Kindred Terms says, “Words of Indian origin have been insinuating themselves into English ever since the end of the reign of Elizabeth and the beginning of that of King James, when such terms as calico, chintz and gingham had already affected a lodgement in English warehouse and shops, and were lying in wait for entrance into English literature.”
This fairly exhaustive glossary and other books don’t mention Indus as the inspiration behind industry, though the river could have been the root of the word "indigo". Indigo, a plant cultivated as a source of dark blue dye, comes from the Portuguese word “indigo” via the Greek word “indikon”, which comes from the Indian river Indus.
There are words like yoga, chutney and guru that are used heavily in the English-speaking world and whose Indian origins are obvious. But there are also several words with unexpected roots in India. Here is a selection of them.
Juggernaut: The word meaning an “overwhelming force” has been derived from one of the names of the Hindu lord Krishna – Juggernath – which has its roots in the Sanskrit word jaganatha, meaning the lord who moved the world.
Coir: The word for the outer husk of a coconut comes from the Malayalam word kayaru meaning cord.
Bandana: Meaning a handkerchief commonly tied around the head or neck, the word bandana has been derived from the Hindi word bandhunu (tie dying) and bandhana (to tie something up).
Dungaree: The word for denim overalls has its roots in the Hindi dumgri, which means hard or coarse, owing to the sturdy and rough nature of the denim fabric they are made out of. The fabric originated in Dongri, a dockside neighbourhood in Bombay.
Cot: The word for a light bedstead seems to have been derived from the words khat and khatwa, Hindi words for bed.
Chintz: The Sanskrit word citra, means shiny or variegated and is the root of the word chintz, meaning a printed or flowery cotton cloth.
Shampoo: The word for this liquid hair wash comes from the Hindi word champoo, meaning “to press”.
Mango: The origin of the word mango, often called the king of fruits, lies in the Tamil word man-kay, which means “man fruit”. The Portuguese formed manga from this, which was then adopted as mango.
Catamaran: A raft-like boat built using three-four logs of wood, the word catamaran comes from the Tamil word kattu (binding) and maram (wood).
Ginger: The word for this spice derived from a plant comes from the Tamil word inciver – inci (ginger) and ver (root).