Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·South Asia ·1610s
Chintz
from chīṇṭ
- Meaning
- A printed, glazed cotton fabric.
- Source word
- chīṇṭ
- Route into English
- Hindi *chīṇṭ* (spotted or variegated cotton) → English via 17th-century trade with Bengal and Madras. "Chintzy" (cheap, tacky) is a much later derogatory formation.
- Arrived
- 1610s
From South Asia
Three centuries of British colonial contact — East India Company, Raj, military, domestic life — deposited a distinct Hindi/Urdu/Bengali/Sanskrit layer in everyday English.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.