Digital avatars A collection of digital images representing schoolchildren for use on the Hello Britannica multilingual educational platform. (more) List of English Words from India Written by Charles Preston Charles Preston is Associate Editor for Religion at Encyclopædia Britannica. Charles Preston Fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Mar. 30, 2026 •History Table of Contents The English language comprises a hodgepodge of words borrowed from all over the globe, and a wide variety of those loanwords hail from the languages of India. Many Indian-origin words were adopted into English during the time of British colonialism in India, but some words came from India even earlier after traveling northwest across Asia and Europe through ancient trading routes such as the Silk Road. The following list of English...

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