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Origin and history of turban

turban(n.)

1560s, "distinctive headdress of men in Muslim nations, consisting of a scarf or shawl wound around a cap," from French turbant (15c.), from Italian turbante (Old Italian tolipante), from Turkish tülbent "gauze, muslin, tulle," from Persian dulband "turban."

Tulip is the same word. According to OED (1989) the change of -l- to -r- may have taken place in Portuguese India and subsequently spread to other European languages. Resemblance to Latin turbo "spinning top, that which whirls" appears coincidental but might have encouraged the form in the European words.

A men's headdress in Muslim lands, a modification of this was popular in Europe and America c. 1776-1800 as a ladies' fashion and revived from time to time and sometimes used in reference to head coverings of Black women in the U.S. South and West Indies. Related: Turbaned.

also from 1560s

Entries linking to turban

tulip(n.)

well-known garden plant blooming in spring with highly colored inverted-bell-shaped flowers, 1570s, via Dutch or German tulpe, French tulipe "a tulip" (16c.), all ultimately from Turkish tülbent "turban," also "gauze, muslin," from Persian dulband "turban;" so called from the fancied resemblance of the flower to a turban.

Introduced from Turkey to Europe, where the earliest known instance of a tulip flowering in cultivation is 1559 in the garden of Johann Heinrich Herwart in Augsburg; popularized in Holland after 1587 by Clusius. The full form of the Turkish word is represented in Italian tulipano, Spanish tulipan, but the -an tended to drop in Germanic languages, where it was mistaken for a suffix.

The tulip tree (1705), a towering North American magnolia, is so called from its tulip-shaped flowers. The wood, tulip-wood (1843), was used by cabinet-makers.

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    Trends of turban

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    tulip
    1570s, via Dutch or German tulpe, French tulipe "a tulip" (16c.), all ultimately from Turkish tülbent "turban," also "gauze..., muslin," from Persian dulband "turban;" so called from the fancied resemblance of the flower to a turban....
    mitre
    mid-14c., "bishop's tall hat," from Old French mitre and directly from Latin mitra "headband, turban," from Greek mitra "...headband, turban," earlier a belt or cloth worn under armor about the waist, perhaps from PIE root *mei- "to bind, attach...
    quote
    late 14c., coten, "to mark or annotate (a book) with chapter numbers or marginal references" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French coter and directly from Medieval Latin quotare "distinguish by numbers, mark off into chapters and verses," from Latin quotus "which in order? what
    desultory
    1580s, "skipping about, jumping, flitting" in a figurative sense, from Latin desultorius "hasty, casual, superficial," adjective form of desultor (n.) "a rider in the circus who jumps from one horse to another while they are in gallop," from desul-, stem of desilire "jump down,"
    peremptory
    mid-15c., peremptorie, "absolute, allowing no refusal," a legal term, from Anglo-French peremptorie, from Late Latin peremptorius "destructive, decisive, final," from peremptor "destroyer," agent noun from past-participle stem of Latin perimpere "destroy, cut off," from per "away
    snow
    Middle English snou, from Old English snaw "snow, that which falls as snow; a fall of snow; a snowstorm," from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz (source also of Old Saxon and Old High German sneo, Old Frisian and Middle Low German sne, Middle Dutch snee, Dutch sneeuw, German Schnee, Old No
    intimate
    1630s, "closely acquainted, very familiar," also "inmost, intrinsic," from Late Latin intimatus, past participle of intimare "make known, announce, impress," from Latin intimus "inmost, innermost, deepest" (adj.), also used figuratively, of affections, feelings, and as a noun, "c
    spring
    Middle English springen, from Old English springan "to leap, leap up, jump;" of a fountain, spring, etc., "burst forth;" also "fly up; spread, grow" (class III strong verb; past tense sprang, past participle sprungen). This is from Proto-Germanic *sprenganan (source also of Old N
    radical
    late 14c., "originating in the root or ground;" of body parts or fluids, "vital to life," from Latin radicalis "of or having roots," from Latin radix (genitive radicis) "root" (from PIE root *wrād- "branch, root"). The basic sense of the word in all meanings is "pertaining or rel
    perfunctory
    "done mechanically or without interest or zeal and merely for the sake of being rid of the duty of doing it; done so as to conform to the letter but not the spirit," 1580s, from Late Latin perfunctorius "careless, negligent," literally "like one who wishes to get through a thing,

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