poncho

poncho

See also: Poncho and ponchó

English

Brazilian president Lula da Silva wearing a poncho

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish poncho, from Quechua punchu. In sense “rubber rain poncho”, attested 1845, used for non-South American garments in the United States and England from 1850s, popularized by US Western expeditions and military from 1850s, particularly after World War II (1940s).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒn.tʃəʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑn.t͡ʃoʊ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒntʃəʊ

Noun

poncho (plural ponchos or ponchoes)

1. A simple garment, made from a rectangle of cloth, with a slit in the middle for the head.
   • 1975, Margery Turner Fisher, Who's Who in Children's Books, page 203

     Garibaldi, with his cowboy's poncho, red shirt and the black ostrich feathers in his wide hat […]

   • 2011, Bruce N. Anderson, Wingtips Under a Bolivian Poncho, page 130

     It was a gringo in a poncho. It was not really accurate to his suits worn today, but Julia would understand the symbolism that he was adapting to the culture and expectations while far away from home.

2. A similar waterproof garment, today typically of rubber with a hood.
   • 1845, William Jameson, “Botanical Excursion to Salinas, an Indian Village on Chimborazo”, The London Journal of Botany, Volume 4, p. 382:

     […] spreading over my bedding an indian-rubber poncho to exclude the rain.

   • 1850, Romance of Modern Travel, p. 43:

     I […] took my seat between Juan and Ambrosio, protected from the rain by an India-rubber poncho.

   • 1857, Solomon Nunes Carvalho, Incidents of Travel and Adventure in the Far West, p. 48 (1857), p. 48 (1858):
   • I found it necessary while doing guard to cover myself with my India-rubber poncho, to prevent my clothes from becoming saturated with water.
   • 1859, Randolph Barnes Marcy, The Prairie Traveler, p. 39:

     The following list of articles is deemed a sufficient outfit for one man upon a three months’ expedition, viz.: […] 1 gutta percha poncho

   • 1858, “Robbery in a Railway Carriage” (1858 March 29), Edmund Burke ed., Annual Register (collected 1859), March p. 59:

     […] when near the old church in Manchester he was run against by a man whom he supposed to be a drunken man, who was dressed in a poncho overcoat.

   • 1888, William Eleroy Curtis, The capitals of Spanish America, p. 505:

     It is about the size of the rubber poncho used in the United States, […]

   • 2001, Michael Rutter, Camping Made Easy, 2nd ed., page 98

     If you have to hike all day in a poncho, your pants will be wet thigh-high before long (never mind how fast you'll get wet if you have to go through wet brush or grass).

Related terms

• ruana
• slicker

Translations

simple garment of cloth

Catalan: ponxo (ca) m Finnish: poncho (fi) French: poncho (fr) German: Poncho (de) m Greek: Ancient: χλαμύς f (khlamús) Irish: painseó m Italian: poncio (it) m Malay: ponco Polish: ponczo (pl) n, poncho (pl) n Portuguese: poncho (pt) m Quechua: punchu, unku Spanish: poncho (es) m

waterproof garment with hood

Catalan: capelina f Chinese: Mandarin: 雨披 Finnish: sadeviitta Italian: poncio (it) m German: Regenponcho m

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

poncho m (plural ponchos)

1. poncho

Further reading

• “poncho”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Japanese

Romanization

poncho

1. Rōmaji transcription of ポンチョ (poncho)

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Karao

Noun

poncho

1. money collected for a common purpose

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔn.t͡ʂɔ/
• Rhymes: -ɔnt͡ʂɔ
• Syllabification: pon‧cho

Noun

poncho n

1. Alternative spelling of ponczo

Declension

Declension of poncho

	singular	plural
nominative	poncho	poncha
genitive	poncha	ponch
dative	ponchu	ponchom
accusative	poncho	poncha
instrumental	ponchem	ponchami
locative	ponchu	ponchach
vocative	poncho	poncha

or

Indeclinable.

Further reading

• poncho in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• poncho in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish poncho,[1] from Quechua punchu.[2]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpõ.ʃu/

• Hyphenation: pon‧cho

Noun

poncho m (plural ponchos)

1. poncho

References

1. “poncho” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.
2. “poncho” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2023.

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Romanian

Etymology

From Spanish poncho.

Noun

poncho n (plural ponchouri)

1. poncho

Declension

Declension of poncho

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) poncho	ponchoul	(niște) ponchouri	ponchourile
genitive/dative	(unui) poncho	ponchoului	(unor) ponchouri	ponchourilor
vocative	ponchoule		ponchourilor

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpont͡ʃo/ [ˈpõnʲ.t͡ʃo]
• Rhymes: -ontʃo
• Syllabification: pon‧cho

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Quechua punchu.

Noun

poncho m (plural ponchos)

1. poncho

Descendants

• → Catalan: ponxo
• → English: poncho
• → Portuguese: poncho

See also

• ruana

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

poncho

1. first-person singular present indicative of ponchar

Further reading

• “poncho”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014