Want to Test Your Spelling Prowess? How Many Asian Words Can You Spell Correctly?

The Asian spelling words refer to the words that come from an origin that is Asian in nature.

A key characteristic of the English language is its teeming vocabulary, an estimated 80% of which has come from other languages. Such linguistic borrowing has occurred over centuries, especially when English speakers have come in contact with other cultures. English has borrowed most heavily from the languages of Europe and Arabia, it has also acquired many words from Asia.

Many of these borrowed words will no longer seem foreign to the native English speaker as they have been completely assimilated into English. Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, etc. are just some of the Asian languages that have contributed to the English vocabulary.

The English language is composed of different words and phrases that have been borrowed from languages of an Asian origin. English vocabulary is composed of hundreds of words that belong to an Asian origin.

You will find a lot of these words in different spelling bee word lists. Spelling bees like to incorporate words from different languages, origins, and culture. Hence, you are bound to run into one or more of these words at some point during your practice as well as during the competition.

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Asian Spelling Words

Asana	Gunnysack	Masala
Bamboo	Guru	Mongoose
Bangle	Gymkhana	Nirvana
Basmati	Holi	Oolong
Batik	Jackal	Pandit
Bhalu	Jiva	Pangolin
Buddha	Jnana	Patel
Bungalow	Juggernaut	Prabhu
Charpoy	Jungle	Pundit
Chintz	Jute	Raita
Chutney	Kama	Raj
Cummerbund	Karma	Rupee
Cushy	Kavya	Seersucker
Dugong	Lahar	Shampoo
Dungaree	Loot	Tanha
Durwan	Mahatma	Topeng
Gingham	Mahout	Typhoon
Gourami	Mandir	Yamen

Some Asian Words Definitions

Asana	a posture adopted in performing hatha yoga.
Bamboo	A plant of the family of grasses, and genus Bambusa, growing in tropical countries. – To flog with the bamboo.
Bangle	To waste by little and little; to fritter away. – An ornamental circlet, of glass, gold, silver, or other material, worn by women in India and Africa, and in some other countries, upon the wrist or ankle; a ring bracelet.
Basmati	a kind of long-grain Indian rice with a delicate fragrance.
Batik	a method (originally used in Java) of producing colored designs on textiles by dyeing them, having first applied wax to the parts to be left undyed.
Bhalu	Hindi for bear.
Buddha	The title of an incarnation of self-abnegation, virtue, and wisdom, or a deified religious teacher of the Buddhists, esp. Gautama Siddartha or Sakya Sinha (or Muni), the founder of Buddhism.
Bungalow	A thatched or tiled house or cottage, of a single story, usually surrounded by a veranda.
Charpoy	a light bedstead.
Chintz	Cotton cloth, printed with flowers and other devices, in a number of different colors, and often glazed.
Chutney	Alt. of Chutnee
Cummerbund	a sash worn around the waist, especially as part of a man’s formal evening suit.
Cushy	(of a job or situation) undemanding, easy, or secure.
Dugong	An aquatic herbivorous mammal (Halicore dugong), of the order Sirenia, allied to the manatee, but with a bilobed tail. It inhabits the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, East Indies, and Australia.
Dungaree	A coarse kind of unbleached cotton stuff.
Durwan	a porter or doorkeeper.
Gingham	A kind of cotton or linen cloth, usually in stripes or checks, the yarn of which is dyed before it is woven; — distinguished from printed cotton or prints.
Gourami	A very largo East Indian freshwater fish (Osphromenus gorami), extensively reared in artificial ponds in tropical countries, and highly valued as a food fish. Many unsuccessful efforts have been made to introduce it into Southern Europe.
Gunnysack	coarse sacking, typically made of jute fiber.
Guru	A spiritual teacher, guide, or confessor amoung the Hindoos.
Gymkhana	a public place with facilities for sports.
Holi	a Hindu spring festival celebrated in February or March in honor of Krishna.
Jackal	Any one of several species of carnivorous animals inhabiting Africa and Asia, related to the dog and wolf. They are cowardly, nocturnal, and gregarious. They feed largely on carrion, and are noted for their piercing and dismal howling. – One who does mean work for another’s advantage, as jackals were once thought to kill game which lions appropriated.
Jiva	the individual soul, regarded as a particular manifestation of Atman.
Jnana	Sanskrit term that means
Juggernaut	One of the names under which Vishnu, in his incarnation as Krishna, is worshiped by the Hindoos.
Jungle	A dense growth of brushwood, grasses, reeds, vines, etc.; an almost impenetrable thicket of trees, canes, and reedy vegetation, as in India, Africa, Australia, and Brazil.
Jute	The coarse, strong fiber of the East Indian Corchorus olitorius, and C. capsularis; also, the plant itself. The fiber is much used for making mats, gunny cloth, cordage, hangings, paper, etc.
Kama	The Hindoo Cupid. He is represented as a beautiful youth, with a bow of sugar cane or flowers.
Karma	One’s acts considered as fixing one’s lot in the future existence. (Theos.) The doctrine of fate as the inflexible result of cause and effect; the theory of inevitable consequence.
Kavya	Indian name meaning ‘sonnet, poem’ and referring to a type of classical Sanskrit devotional poetry.
Lahar	a destructive mud flow on the slopes of a volcano.
Loot	The act of plundering. – Plunder; booty; especially, the boot taken in a conquered or sacked city. – To plunder; to carry off as plunder or a prize lawfully obtained by war.
Mahatma	a revered person regarded with love and respect; a holy person or sage.
Mahout	The keeper and driver of an elephant.
Mandir	temple.
Masala	spices.
Mongoose	Alt. of Mongoos
Nirvana	In the Buddhist system of religion, the final emancipation of the soul from transmigration, and consequently a beatific enfrachisement from the evils of wordly existence, as by annihilation or absorption into the divine. See Buddhism.
Oolong	A fragrant variety of black tea having somewhat the flavor of green tea.
Pandit	See Pundit.
Pangolin	Any one of several species of Manis, Pholidotus, and related genera, found in Africa and Asia. They are covered with imbricated scales, and feed upon ants. Called also scaly ant-eater.
Patel	surname? of Indian origin (Hindu and Parsi) from a Gujarati word meaning village headsman.
Prabhu	master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God.
Pundit	A learned man; a teacher; esp., a Brahman versed in the Sanskrit language, and in the science, laws, and religion of the Hindoos; in Cashmere, any clerk or native official.
Raita	an Indian side dish of yogurt containing chopped cucumber or other vegetables, and spices.
Raj	Reign; rule.
Rupee	A silver coin, and money of account, in the East Indies.
Seersucker	A light fabric, originally made in the East Indies, of silk and linen, usually having alternating stripes, and a slightly craped or puckered surface; also, a cotton fabric of similar appearance.
Shampoo	To press or knead the whole surface of the body of (a person), and at the same time to stretch the limbs and joints, in connection with the hot bath. – To wash throughly and rub the head of (a person), with the fingers, using either soap, or a soapy preparation, for the more thorough cleansing. – The act of shampooing.
Tanha	Vedic Sanskrit word which means thirst, desire, wish.
Topeng	dramatic form of Indonesian dance in which one or more mask-wearing, ornately costumed performers interpret traditional narratives concerning fabled kings, heroes and myths, accompanied by gamelan music.
Typhoon	A violent whirlwind; specifically, a violent whirlwind occurring in the Chinese seas.
Yamen	he headquarters or residence of a Chinese government official or department.

After you are done with the Asian spelling words, you should work on the other featured lists available on Spelling Bee Ninja.

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