The word dungarees is a relic of the British colonial presence in India. Dungri was the name applied to a durable cotton cloth exported from India to England in the 1600s, and used to make sails and tents. Dungaree comes from the Marathi term Ḍoṅgarī Killā, or “Hill Fort,” the name of a fortification and port near Mumbai, where the cloth was originally traded. By the middle of the 19th century, this material was also used for sturdy work trousers called dungarees. Jeans were originally made of jean, a fabric from Genoa, Italy, and denim comes from French serge de Nîmes, or “serge from Nîmes,” a town in southern France, which produced it. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Dungarees: From a Hill in Mumbai to Your Closet”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Madeline from the Manistee National Forest.
Now, where is that?
Well, if you look at the back of your left hand, at the base of your little fingernail on the shores of Lake Michigan.
What can we do for you today?
Well, I have a question about a word.
You know, in the 1930s, we were wearing overalls, denim overalls. In the 1940s, we wore dungarees. 1950s, we wore Levi’s. In the 1960s, I wore blue jeans. In the 1970s, I was wearing bell bottoms. Now we have jeans or flares. And the question I have is the word dungarees. I had associated it with either the ocean or the barn, and I didn’t know whether that was correct or not.
With the barn? Yep.
The dung part of it. Oh, wearing those to muck out the stalls, huh? Right, right. Okay.
No, it doesn’t have to do with oceans or barns, really. Well, maybe oceans a little bit since it has to do with the export of fabric from India. The term dungarees is actually a relic of the British colonial presence in India. And dungaree was the name of a kind of cotton cloth that was exported from India to England in the 1600s. And it came from this place that in the Marathi language, and that’s a language of west central India, sounds sort of like dungaree kila. It means hill fort. And it was this fortification in a port near what is now Mumbai. And this dungaree fabric that was produced there was originally used to make sails and tents, but it was adapted for sturdy work clothes. And so dungarees became the word for trousers made from this material that was produced in that village. And then since the late 16th century, the English were importing another kind of fabric, a cotton twill from another port city, that is the Italian port city of Genoa. And this fabric from Genoa eventually became known as jean, jean fabric.
In the same way that the dungaree fabric was used to make dungarees, trousers made from this fabric eventually called jean from Genoa were called jeans. And the list goes on.
You asked about Levi’s.
I imagine you know that one.
Yeah.
And, you know, during the war in the 1940s, I was a three-year-old running around San Diego. And that’s when I first heard dungarees, and we used it for a while, and then it changed through the years. It’s interesting, too, because in the U.K., the term dungarees now refers to what we in this country call bib overalls, your dungarees.
Yeah, that’s right.
I was just puzzled because, you know, my dad was in the Navy, and that was why I associated it with the mariners.
That’s wrong. It comes from India.
It does indeed.
So I appreciate you finding it out. I’ve been wondering about it for some time. And thank you so much. I sure enjoy your show.
Madeline, thank you so much for your call. We really appreciate it.
Okay, you’re welcome.
Take care now.
Take care.
There are puzzles in everyday life, whether you put them on your body or put them in your mouth. There’s a story behind every word.
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