The story
- Quechua · derived frompunchu
- Spanish · borrowed fromponcho
- English todayponcho
Borrowed from Spanish poncho, from Quechua punchu. In sense “rubber rain poncho”, attested 1845, used for non-South American garments in the United States and England from 1850s, popularized by US Western expeditions and military from 1850s, particularly after World War II (1940s).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.