poncho

American  

[pon-choh] / ˈpɒn tʃoʊ /

noun

plural

ponchos

1. a blanketlike cloak with a hole in the center to admit the head, originating in South America, now often worn as a raincoat.

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poncho British  

/ ˈpɒntʃəʊ /

noun

1. a cloak of a kind originally worn in South America, made of a rectangular or circular piece of cloth, esp wool, with a hole in the middle to put the head through

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Other Word Forms

• ponchoed adjective

Etymology

Origin of poncho

First recorded in 1710–20; from Latin American Spanish: further origin uncertain; perhaps from Araucanian pontho “woolen fabric”; perhaps from Old Spanish poncho “a mantle or cloak”; perhaps a back formation from ponchón “lazy, sluggish”; perhaps an alteration of unrecorded pochón, an augmentative of pocho “pale, faded,” and probably akin to pachón “phlegmatic, sluggish”

Example Sentences

One soldier aided an older woman, her body wrapped in a poncho as the clouds thickened above.

From Barron's • Oct. 28, 2025

Wearing a clear poncho, he couldn’t be bubblier as he answers questions and generally holds court.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2025

Also at the fanzone, Kelly Wood, 39, from North Shields, was wearing a plastic poncho and said she had been swilled with beer when the goals went in.

From BBC • Mar. 16, 2025

“Let’s be like this forever,” I suggested, drying off in a wool poncho.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 29, 2024

Keeping flat to the ground, they pushed a poncho under Scruggs as a stretcher, then dragged him to safety.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge