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Where does the word "dungarees" come from? It comes from Hindi dungri, and was adopted directly into English (1600s-1700s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "dungarees" come from? It comes from Hindi dungri, and was adopted directly into English (1600s-1700s).
Dungarees’s story begins in Hindi: dungri meant “a coarse cotton cloth.” A coarse cotton cloth from a village near Mumbai. It reached English by 1600s-1700s as dungaree. Named after Dongri, a village near Bombay where the cheap cloth was sold; sailors wore it for work clothes. Today, dungarees means sturdy cotton work trousers or overalls.
- Stage 1 · Hindi · medieval dungri "a coarse cotton cloth", a coarse cotton cloth from a village near Mumbai.
- Stage 2 · English · 1600s-1700s dungaree "a coarse cotton fabric", named after Dongri, a village near Bombay where the cheap cloth was sold; sailors wore it for work clothes.