bindi

Where does the word "bindi" come from? It comes from Sanskrit bindu, passing through Hindi before entering English (1900s).

Bindi’s story begins in Sanskrit: bindu meant “a drop, point.” Meaning "a drop" or "point", a symbolic dot. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Hindi as bindi. The decorative forehead mark worn by South Asian women. It reached English by 1900s as bindi. Recorded as early as 1872 by B. H. Baden-Powell, a British civil servant in the Punjab; traditionally a marker of married Hindu women, now also worn as fashion. Today, bindi means a decorative mark, often a dot, worn on the forehead, especially by South Asian women.

1. Stage 1 · Sanskrit · ancient bindu "a drop, point", meaning "a drop" or "point", a symbolic dot.
2. Stage 2 · Hindi · medieval bindi "a forehead mark", the decorative forehead mark worn by South Asian women.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1900s bindi "a decorative dot worn on the forehead", recorded as early as 1872 by B. H. Baden-Powell, a British civil servant in the Punjab; traditionally a marker of married Hindu women, now also worn as fashion.