History of the word Veranda
The word “Veranda” meaning “an open pillared gallery around a house” has a long and interesting history. In Henry Yule Hobson-Jobson’s Dictionary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases there is an extensive if slightly confusing story of how it developed. It records that “Veranda” could be a corruption of “Baramada” which is a Persian word meaning “coming forward, projecting”. Another theory is that “Veranda” comes from the Sanskrit or Hindi word “Baranda” meaning “Portico”. The modern Hindi word “Varanda” meaning a “porch along the side of a building” bears a very strong resemblance to the English word “Veranda” and has the same spelling as in Spanish and Portuguese. All these variations are relatively modern being absent from the Ancient Sanskrit writings.
A slightly different view is to be found on the Wiki History website. Here it is stated that the word “Veranda” comes from the Tamil word வெறுந்தரை “Veruntharai” meaning a “roofed open gallery” which is in turn derived from the two Tamil words – “Verum” வெறும் meaning “empty” and “Tharai” தரை meaning “a floor or space”. This seems less likely than the erudite explanation to be found in Hobson-Jobson’s Dictionary.
In his dictionary Hobson-Jobson goes on to explain that the corrupted Sanskrit and Hindi words come back into the English and French Languages as “Veranda”. They also appear in the Spanish and Portuguese tongues in a more direct way as “Varanda” meaning terrace, gallery, balcony, gazebo, piazza, porch and stoop. The word does start to appear in the European languages in the late 15th Century. Early references include one from 1498 in the writings of Vasco de Gama which describe walking through courts and “varandas” when he made landfall at Goa on his first trip to India. In 1505 in a Spanish-Arabic lexicon there is a reference to “varandas”.
Later “Veranda” and “Varanda” appear more often with whole hosts of variations. In 1754 the word “voranda” crops in a description by Ives of the Caves of Elephanta near Mumbai in India and other variants include “baranda”, “feerandah”, “veranda” and “verandah”. This last word is very correct but is now regarded by the authoritative Oxford English Dictionary as a variant of veranda rather than the other way around.
A slightly different view is to be found on the Wiki History website. Here it is stated that the word “Veranda” comes from the Tamil word வெறுந்தரை “Veruntharai” meaning a “roofed open gallery” which is in turn derived from the two Tamil words – “Verum” வெறும் meaning “empty” and “Tharai” தரை meaning “a floor or space”. This seems less likely than the erudite explanation to be found in Hobson-Jobson’s Dictionary.
In his dictionary Hobson-Jobson goes on to explain that the corrupted Sanskrit and Hindi words come back into the English and French Languages as “Veranda”. They also appear in the Spanish and Portuguese tongues in a more direct way as “Varanda” meaning terrace, gallery, balcony, gazebo, piazza, porch and stoop. The word does start to appear in the European languages in the late 15th Century. Early references include one from 1498 in the writings of Vasco de Gama which describe walking through courts and “varandas” when he made landfall at Goa on his first trip to India. In 1505 in a Spanish-Arabic lexicon there is a reference to “varandas”.
Later “Veranda” and “Varanda” appear more often with whole hosts of variations. In 1754 the word “voranda” crops in a description by Ives of the Caves of Elephanta near Mumbai in India and other variants include “baranda”, “feerandah”, “veranda” and “verandah”. This last word is very correct but is now regarded by the authoritative Oxford English Dictionary as a variant of veranda rather than the other way around.
