jungle (English)
Where does "jungle" come from?
The English word 'jungle' was borrowed from Hindustani in the late eighteenth century, with its first recorded appearance in 1776[1]. It traces back to the Sanskrit word 'jaṅgala'[1]. Interestingly, the original Sanskrit meaning was 'arid', 'sterile', or 'desert'[1], a stark contrast to the modern English sense of a lush, humid tropical forest[1]. This shift in meaning suggests a broader application to any uncultivated or wild tract of land over time[1].
Open questions
- The ultimate origin of the Sanskrit term is believed to be from a substrate language, possibly Dravidian or Munda, though this remains uncertain. [2]
Full etymology tree
- jungle (English), 'A large, undeveloped, humid forest, especially in a tropical region, that is home to many wild plants and animals; a tropical rainforest.'
- borrowed جَن٘گَل / जंगल (jaṅgal) (Hindustani)
- inherited जङ्गल (jaṅgala) (Sanskrit), 'arid, sterile, desert (L.)'
- borrowed جَن٘گَل / जंगल (jaṅgal) (Hindustani)
Ancestors
- जङ्गल (Sanskrit)
Descendants and derived words
- jungla (Catalan)
- džungle (Czech)
- jungle (Danish)
- jungle (Dutch)
- asphalt jungle (English)
- beat like a jungle drum (English)
- blackboard jungle (English)
- concrete jungle (English)
- dark jungle glory (English)
- hobo jungle (English)
- it's a jungle out there (English)
- jungle babbler (English)
Sources
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris