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.

---

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

---

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

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

From Barron's • Oct. 28, 2025

Wearing a clear poncho, he couldn’t be bubblier as he answers questions and generally holds court.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 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

When we first came here, in ’64, I was dressed up in a poncho with a holster and a toy gun.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 6, 2024

With its quilted liner, the poncho weighed almost 2 pounds, but it was worth every ounce.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien