Bungalow
/ˈbʌŋ.ɡə.loʊ/noun
A small house with one or one-and-a-half stories, often with a wide porch.
Did you know?The word entered English from South Asia during the British colonial period, and its exact deeper origin is debated, but it’s firmly tied to the Bengali word for a house in the “Bengal style.”
Etymological Timeline
Late 17th Century
Hindustani/English
banglā
“A house in the Bengali style; a Bengali dwelling”
Late 17th–18th Century
Portuguese/English
bungalow
“A detached house of the kind seen in India, especially a low, single-story dwelling”
19th Century
English
bungalow
“A low house, often with a veranda, adapted in British colonial and later suburban architecture”
Modern English
English
bungalow
“A small house with one or one-and-a-half stories, often with a wide porch”
Explore more surprising origins