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pon·cho

(pŏnchō)

n. pl. pon·chos

1. A blanketlike cloak having a hole in the center for the head.

2. A similar garment having a hood used as a raincoat.

[Latin American Spanish, from Old Spanish, a kind of mantle or cloak, perhaps back-formation from ponchón, lazy, sluggish, slack, floppy, perhaps alteration of *pochón, augmentative of pocho, pale, faded, probably akin to pachón, phlegmatic, sluggish, and ultimately of imitative origin.]

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poncho

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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