Parkas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An insulated outer garment, typically worn in cold weather, featuring a hood and often made from water-resistant materials
2. A warm, often fur-lined coat designed for extreme weather conditions, usually equipped with a hood to provide additional coverage
3. A heavy-duty winter jacket that provides significant protection against cold temperatures, usually characterized by a spacious design and robust fabric

Etymology: The word "parkas" is simply the plural of "parka," so the story belongs to the singular. The hooded garment was first recorded in English in 1780, and the word came into English from Tundra Nenets, the language of the Nenets people of northern Russia and Siberia, where "parka" referred to a skin or fur garment. It reached English via Aleut, a language of the Aleutian Islands, and via Russian "párka," which the Russians used for the same kind of coat. The word's deeper origin is uncertain. Some scholars link it to a Proto-Uralic root, pointing to the dialectal Finnish "parka," meaning "rag" or "swaddling clothes," which may be a shared cognate or an early borrowing from another Uralic language. The connection is not settled, so the garment's name may trace back to an ancient Uralic word for cloth wrapping.

Synonyms: coats, jackets