bungalow

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbʌŋɡələʊ/, /ˈbʌŋɡl̩əʊ/ (UK); /ˈbʌŋɡəloʊ/, /ˈbʌŋɡl̩oʊ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Hindi बंगला (baṅglā),^[2][3][4] literally “of Bengal”, used for a house in the Bengal style.^[5][3][4] Etymonline gives Gujarati bangalo as the immediate source.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Anglo-Indian use it first meant a one-storey, lightly built house, usually thatched and surrounded by a veranda.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Outside India it came to mean any small one-storey house or cottage.^[2][4][1] In the United States it also names a style of house with one and a half storeys, popular in the early 20th century.^[4][3]

Timeline

• 1670s – first recorded;^[5] Merriam-Webster and the OED date it 1676.^[3][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A small one-storey house or cottage, sometimes with rooms in the roof.
2. In India, a one-storey thatched or tiled house with a wide veranda.

Word family

• bungaloid

Related words

• Bengal
• veranda

References

1. [1] [2] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. [1] [2] [3] [4] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. [1] [2] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press