poncho

[ pon-choh ]

See synonyms for poncho on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural pon·chos.

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

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”

Other words from poncho

ponchoed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use poncho in a sentence

Loose silk pants, cozy ponchos, and supple leggings were all a part of the equation.
The Missoni Show Was Full of Bathrobes | Misty White Sidell | February 24, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
And his fall collection was, indeed, one of his best, with his quilted ponchos and slightly beaten-up knits.
New York Fashion Week's Mean Girls | Robin Givhan | February 15, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
In the present day the “ricos,” or rich proprietors of Peru, pride themselves in possessing ponchos of vicuña wool.
Popular Adventure Tales | Mayne Reid
Their wide-brimmed hats, striped ponchos, and long lances showed that they were not the dragoons.
Ponce de Leon | William Pilling
Ponchos woven out of it are deemed the finest made, and command the fabulous price of 20 pounds or 30 pounds sterling.
The Hunters' Feast | Mayne Reid

They wrapped their ponchos about them and shivered in the damp.
The Wolf Cub | Patrick Casey
They make ponchos of vicuña wool, which sell for 100 or 120 dollars each, and which are equal to the finest European cloth.
Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests | J. J. von Tschudi

British Dictionary definitions for poncho

poncho

/ (ˈpɒntʃəʊ) /

nounplural -chos

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

Origin of poncho

C18: from American Spanish, from Araucanian pantho woollen material

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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