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This is a list of English-language words of Hindi and Urdu origin, two distinguished registers of the Hindustani language (Hindi-Urdu). Many of the Hindi and Urdu equivalents have originated from Sanskrit; see List of English words of Sanskrit origin. Many loanwords are of Persian origin; see List of English words of Persian origin, with some of the latter being in turn of Arabic or Turkic origin. In some cases words have entered the English language by multiple routes - occasionally ending up with different meanings, spellings, or pronunciations, just as with words with European etymologies. Many entered English during the British Raj in colonial India. These borrowings, dating back to the colonial period, are often labeled as "Anglo-Indian".[1]
The debt owed by the English language to the various Indian languages did not go unnoticed at the time of British rule in India. In 1886, Henry Yule, a Scottish scholar, along with the help of Arthur Burnell, and English scholar in Sanskrit, compiled and published Hobson-Jobson, a dictionary of Anglo-Indian terms used by the British in India. Among the many words listed in the dictionary, there are many which are still used in the English language. Examples of such words would include cushy (derived from a Hindi word meaning 'happiness') and dekko (derived from the Hindi word for 'look').