Narghileh
/ˈnɑːr.ɡɪ.leɪ/noun
A hookah or water pipe, especially one associated with the Middle East and South Asia.
Did you know?The word traveled from South Asian terms for coconut into Persian and Turkish, preserving the memory of an early coconut-shell water-pipe design.
Etymological Timeline
Sanskrit period
Sanskrit
nārikela
“Coconut; an early South Asian source for the later Persian pipe name”
Medieval Persian
Persian
nārgīl
“Coconut”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
nārijīl
“Coconut; a borrowing of the Persian term”
Ottoman period
Turkish
nargile
“A water pipe, named through association with the coconut shell used in early forms”
19th Century
English
narghile / narghileh
“A hookah or water pipe borrowed from Turkish and related Middle Eastern forms”
Modern English
English
narghileh
“A hookah or water pipe, often used as a regional or literary variant”