khaki

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a dull yellowish-brown color or sturdy cloth, especially as used for military uniforms

   The soldiers wore dusty khaki in the summer heat.

Borrowed from Hindustani خاکی (xākī) / ख़ाकी (xākī), from Classical Persian خَاکِی (xākī, “dusty, earthy, earth-colored”). Noun sense 5 was coined in reference to the colour of the uniform of British troops during the Second Boer War; compare rooinek.

Topics