jungle

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A thick tropical forest full of wild plants and animals.

   The explorers cut a path through the dense jungle.

2. 2
   noun

   A place or situation with fierce, ruthless competition.

   In business, it's a jungle out there.

3. 3
   noun

   A confusing, tangled mess of things.

   His desk was a jungle of papers and old coffee cups.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Jungle entered English in the late 18th century through Hindi from Sanskrit jāṅgala, “rough and arid terrain.” British speakers initially used it for uncultivated land; its meaning later shifted toward dense, tangled forest.

Borrowed from Hindustani جَن٘گَل (jaṅgal) / जंगल (jaṅgal), from Sanskrit जङ्गल (jaṅgala, “arid, sterile, desert”). First appears c. 1776 in a translation by Nathaniel Halhed.

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External links

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