poncho

[pon-choh]

noun

plural

ponchos 

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

poncho

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• ponchoed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of poncho¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of poncho¹

C18: from American Spanish, from Araucanian pantho woollen material

Example Sentences

Some residents donned rain ponchos and motorbike helmets to protect themselves from the rain as they traversed flooded streets.

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Volunteers draped in rain ponchos and high-visibility vests used brushes to remove an old layer of protective coating from the mural wall.

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

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The crowd of drenched healthcare workers carried signs, and their blue ponchos whipped in the wind.

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At one point, a white man wearing a sombrero, poncho and fake mustache walked around and through the small group of protesters, yelling racial slurs and taunting them.

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