poncho

American  

[pon-choh] / ˈpɒn tʃoʊ /

noun

ponchos plural

1. a blanketlike cloak with a hole in the center to admit the head, originating in South America, now often worn as a raincoat.

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poncho British  

/ ˈpɒntʃəʊ /

noun

1. a cloak of a kind originally worn in South America, made of a rectangular or circular piece of cloth, esp wool, with a hole in the middle to put the head through

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ponchoed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• ponchos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of poncho

First recorded in 1710–20; from Latin American Spanish: further origin uncertain; perhaps from Araucanian pontho “woolen fabric”; perhaps from Old Spanish poncho “a mantle or cloak”; perhaps a back formation from ponchón “lazy, sluggish”; perhaps an alteration of unrecorded pochón, an augmentative of pocho “pale, faded,” and probably akin to pachón “phlegmatic, sluggish”

Example Sentences

If you’re planning to attend in person, bring a poncho.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2026

One soldier aided an older woman, her body wrapped in a poncho as the clouds thickened above.

From Barron's • Oct. 28, 2025

Also at the fanzone, Kelly Wood, 39, from North Shields, was wearing a plastic poncho and said she had been swilled with beer when the goals went in.

From BBC • Mar. 16, 2025

Renee Tajima-Peña, a senior faculty member, stood in a line outside Royce Hall to make a donation for the protesters: solar phone chargers, a poncho, some respirators.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2024

Santiago wears white pants, a white shirt, blue poncho, and a stiff new sombrero.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau