The story
- Hindi · derived fromटोपी“hat”
- Hindi · derived fromसोला“the plant Aeschynomene aspera, used to make pith helmets”
- Hindi · derived fromसोला टोपी
- English todaysolar topee
From Hindi सोला टोपी (solā ṭopī), from Hindi सोला (solā, “the plant Aeschynomene aspera, used to make pith helmets”) + Hindi टोपी (ṭopī, “hat”). The spelling solar is a Hobson-Jobsonism from English solar (“relating to the sun”), as the hat provided shade from the sun.
Words from the same roots
Hindiसोला all →
sola
Hindiटोपी all →
topitopee
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.