Shampoo is Hindi, from champo, the imperative of champna, "to press, to knead the muscles," perhaps from Sanskrit. English took it in 1762, and — like several Indian borrowings — the first English sense is nothing like the modern one. To shampoo someone was to massage them, rubbing and pounding the body to restore tone and vigour, a practice described at length in a 1762 book about the East Indies.
The narrowing to hair is from 1860, presumably by way of the head massage that accompanied washing at a bathhouse, and the word was extended to carpets and upholstery only in 1954. It belongs with bungalow, jungle, loot, thug and pyjamas in the vocabulary the British brought back from India, and it is the one that travelled furthest from its original meaning.
shampoo (v.) 1762, "to massage, rub and percuss the surface of (the body) to restore tone and vigor," from Anglo-Indian shampoo, from Hindi champo, imperative of champna "to press, knead the muscles," perhaps from Sanskrit capayati "pounds, kneads." The thing is thoroughly described in "A Voyage to the East Indies" (1762). The meaning "lather and wash the hair" is recorded by 1860; extended 1954 to carpets, upholstery, etc. Related: Shampooed ; shampooing . also from 1762 shampoo (n.) 1838, "act or operation of shampooing;" 1866, "soap for shampooing;" from shampoo (v.). also from 1838
shampoo came in through Later and wider borrowings, and its spelling follows that family's conventions.
What gives it away on the page
| everyday domestic words from India | Sanskrit-descended languages, via the Raj.shampoo, bungalow, jungle, pyjamas, loot, thug, guru |
Later and wider borrowings in the spelling guide · guess another word's family