furoshiki

Where does the word "furoshiki" come from? It comes from Japanese furoshiki, and was adopted directly into English (2000s-2010s).

Furoshiki’s story begins in Japanese: furoshiki meant “a square wrapping cloth.” Literally 'bath spread', a cloth once used to bundle clothes at the bathhouse. It reached English by 2000s-2010s as furoshiki. Named for bath houses of the Edo period, where bathers wrapped their clothes in cloth. Today, furoshiki means a traditional Japanese square cloth used to wrap and carry goods or gifts.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · medieval furoshiki "a square wrapping cloth", literally 'bath spread', a cloth once used to bundle clothes at the bathhouse.
2. Stage 2 · English · 2000s-2010s furoshiki "a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth", named for bath houses of the Edo period, where bathers wrapped their clothes in cloth.