Etymograph

English

bandana

Bandana comes from Hindi बंधन ‘act of tying; bond’, from Sanskrit बन्धन ‘bond, fetter’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- ‘to bind’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰendʰ-1‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEबन्धन1‘bond, fetter, tie’
  3. Hindic. 1500–presentबंधन1bandhan‘act of tying; bond’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1832bandana1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bandana
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Heath's Book of Beauty: “Neighbours now came hurrying in, and one after another…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰendʰ-Wiktionary, English bandana‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEबन्धनWiktionary, English bandana‘bond, fetter, tie’
  3. Hindic. 1500–presentबंधनWiktionary, English bandanabandhan‘act of tying; bond’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1832bandanaWiktionary, English bandana. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Heath's Book of Beauty: “Neighbours now came hurrying in, and one after another…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with bandana, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- ‘to bind, bond’

  • bond ← beand ← *bandaz
  • bend ← benden ← bendan ← *bandijan ← *bandijaną
  • bundle ← bundel ← bondel ← *bundil-
  • banner ← baner ← baniere ← *bandiz
  • bind ← binden ← bindan ← *bindan ← *bindaną
  • bonnet ← bonet ← bonet ← bonet ← *bunni
  • tulip ← tulipe ← دلبند ← دولبند ← بند
  • bund ← bunt
  • funicular ← fūniculus ← fūnis ← *fūdnis ← *bʰóndʰis
  • disband ← desbander
  • bandh ← बंध ← बन्ध

20 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A large kerchief, usually colourful and used either as headgear or as a handkerchief, neckerchief, bikini, or sweatband.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bandana”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- / bandana