Ghungru

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small hollow metal bell containing a loose pellet that jingles, often strung on dancers' anklets or tied to animal harnesses
2. A tiny rattling bell of brass or iron, commonly fastened to anklets worn in Indian dance or to the harness of livestock
3. Little jingling bell with a pellet inside, used as an ornament on dancers' ankles or as a noisemaker on draught animals

Etymology: Ghungru is a variant spelling of "ghungroo," the small bell, often made of brass, that is sewn onto dancers' anklets and the ankle bands worn by Indian classical dancers. The word was borrowed from Hindi, where the spelling "घुँघरू" (ghuṅghrū) names the same tiny bell. English took it directly from that Hindi form, so the word carries the sound of the bells themselves, a jingle built into its spelling. The Hindi word belongs to a family of sounds that imitate the ringing of small metal objects, which is why it reads so naturally as a name for something that rattles or tinkles when a dancer moves. The English spellings "ghungroo" and "ghungru" both reflect attempts to render the same Hindi sounds in Roman letters.