25 English Words That Came From Hindi (You Use Some Every Day)
By the Hindi Haveli team · October 28, 2026
Here is a happy surprise for anyone starting Hindi: you already know some. If you have ever washed your hair with shampoo, walked through a jungle, worn pajamas or called someone a guru, you have spoken a word with Hindi or Hindustani roots.
Most of these words entered English between the 1600s and the 1900s, through trade and through the long British presence in India. Sailors, merchants, soldiers and officials picked up words they heard every day, took them home, and over time those words became ordinary English. Some came from Sanskrit through Hindi; others came from Persian through Hindustani, the shared everyday language of North India.
Here are 25 English words with Hindi or Hindustani origins, with the original Hindi spelling, pronunciation and meaning. A few word histories are debated by scholars, and we have chosen ones that major dictionaries agree on.
Around the house
1. Shampoo
- चाँपो (chaampo): "press!", from चाँपना (chaampnaa), to press or knead
This is many people's favorite. The word first meant a head and body massage. Travelers to India in the 1700s described the pleasure of being "shampooed," meaning massaged. Only later did it come to mean the soap you wash your hair with.
2. Bungalow
- बंगला (banglaa): a house "in the Bengal style"
Single-story houses with wide verandas, built in a style from Bengal, became popular with the British in India, and the word traveled around the world.
3. Pajamas
- पाजामा (paajaamaa): leg garment, loose trousers
The word comes from Persian pa, "leg," and jama, "garment," and came into English through Hindustani. In India, a pajama is everyday wear, not just for bed.
4. Cot
- खाट (khaaT): a bed or cot, often a woven rope bed
5. Chit
- चिट्ठी (chiTThee): a letter, a note
A "chit" in English is a short note or a voucher. In Hindi, a चिट्ठी is a letter, and getting one from far away is still a joy.
Out in the world
6. Jungle
- जंगल (jangal): forest, wild land
In Hindi, जंगल can mean a forest or simply uncultivated land. English took it to mean a dense, tropical forest.
7. Cheetah
- चीता (cheetaa): the cheetah
The Hindi name probably comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "spotted" or "speckled."
8. Dinghy
- डिंगी (Dingee): a small boat
9. Juggernaut
- जगन्नाथ (jagannaath): Jagannath, "lord of the world"
This word comes from the great chariot festival of Lord Jagannath in Puri, Odisha, where enormous wooden chariots are pulled through the streets by huge crowds. Europeans who saw it described the unstoppable chariots, and "juggernaut" came to mean any huge, unstoppable force.
Clothes and cloth
10. Khaki
- ख़ाकी (khaakee): dust-colored
From ख़ाक (khaak), dust, a word of Persian origin. British soldiers in India dyed their uniforms this color in the 1800s, and the word, and the color, spread worldwide.
11. Bandanna
- बांधनी (baandhanee): tie-dyed cloth, from बाँधना (baandhnaa), to tie
12. Chintz
- छींट (chheenT): a spotted or printed cotton cloth
13. Dungarees
- डूंगरी (Doongaree): a coarse, thick cotton cloth
The cloth was associated with a village near Mumbai, and English used the name for work trousers made of sturdy cotton.
14. Bangle
- बंगड़ी (bangaRee): a glass bangle or bracelet
Food and drink
15. Chutney
- चटनी (chaTnee): a fresh relish
The name is connected to चाटना (chaaTnaa), "to lick," because a good chutney is something you want to lick off your fingers.
16. Toddy
- ताड़ी (taaRee): the sap of the palm tree
From ताड़ (taaR), a kind of palm. English toddy first meant palm wine, and later a warm drink.
People and ideas
17. Guru
- गुरु (guru): a teacher, a spiritual guide
18. Pundit
- पंडित (panDit): a learned person, a scholar
In English, a pundit now means a commentator or expert, especially on TV. In Hindi, पंडित still means a learned scholar or a priest.
19. Avatar
- अवतार (avtaar): a descent, an incarnation
In Hindu tradition, an avatar is a god's descent to earth in a particular form. Today, your profile picture is also your avatar.
20. Mantra
- मंत्र (mantra): a sacred word or phrase
21. Karma
- कर्म (karm): action, deeds
In everyday Hindi, कर्म simply means action or work. The idea that actions have consequences gave English its modern sense.
22. Yoga
- योग (yog): union, joining together
Notice that in Hindi the final a is usually silent: yog, karm, Ram. This is one of the most useful pronunciation tips for new learners.
Slang and sayings
23. Loot
- लूट (looT): plunder, stolen goods
24. Thug
- ठग (Thag): a swindler, a cheat
In 19th-century India, the word was used for gangs of robbers on the highways. English now uses "thug" for any violent criminal, while in Hindi ठग still means a cheat or con artist.
25. Pukka
- पक्का (pakkaa): ripe, cooked, solid, for sure
In British English, "pukka" means genuine or first-class. In Hindi, पक्का is used constantly: पक्का? (pakkaa?) means "for sure?", and a पक्का घर is a house built of brick, not mud.
Bonus words from British slang
A few words came into British slang through soldiers who served in India:
- देखो (dekho): look! (British slang "have a dekko")
- विलायती (vilaayatee): foreign, from abroad (gave British slang "Blighty")
Why this matters for learners
Finding words you already know is one of the best ways to feel at home in a new language. It also teaches you something about Hindi sounds. Notice how the Hindi spellings above help you hear the difference between ट (T), a hard retroflex sound made with the tongue curled back, and त (t), a soft dental sound with the tongue against the teeth. Words like ठग and पंडित use the curled-back sounds, which English speakers often hear as a plain T or D.
Family game: next time you are at the grocery store or reading a book together, play "spot the Hindi word." Shampoo, pajamas, jungle and chutney are hiding everywhere.
Read the story of how Hindi traveled
How did Hindi words end up in English, and Hindi speakers end up in Fiji, Trinidad and Texas? Our free Know Hindi chapter, Hindi in the World Today, tells the story of where Hindi is spoken and how it traveled. A later chapter is all about Hindi words in English, with many more examples.
पक्का? पक्का!
Your turn: try it free
Hindi in the World Today is our free first Know Hindi chapter: where Hindi is spoken and how it traveled. Read the free chapter