Jungle, Bungalow and more: Here's a list of English words derived from Hindi

English is the most spoken language in the world. Nearly 1.5 billion people speak English in 2022 followed by Mandarin Chinese (1.1 billion people) and Hindi taking third place with 6.2 million speakers, suggests a survey by Statista. English is spoken either natively or as a second language by people worldwide. Currently, English is the official language of 67 countries in the world. 

In India, the number of English speakers is about 10.6 percent of the population speaks English. But did you know that even the most popular language in the world has some words that are borrowed from Hindi?

Here is a list of English words that are derived from Hindi:

JUNGLE

The word 'jungle', meaning an area of tropical forest where trees and plants grow very thickly comes from the Hindi word 'jangal', used to describe a dense tropical forest. 

PYJAMA

The English word 'pyjama' refers to a loose jacket and trousers worn in bed or nightdress is derived from the Hindi word ‘pajama’ or ‘payjama’. 

BUNGALOW

The English word for a big single-storeyed house is known as a bungalow, in Hindi big single-storeyed houses are called ‘bangla’. 

THUG

A 'thug' is normally used to refer to a violent person or a criminal. This word too comes from the Hindi word, 'thag', meaning a thief or criminal. 

SHAMPOO

A head massage in Hindi is called 'champoo' or 'champi' which gave birth to word 'shampoo' in English. 

LOOT

The word 'loot' means to steal things from shops or buildings after a riot, fire, etc. loot comes from 'lut' which means the same.