Rangoli

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹaŋˈɡəʊli/

Definitions

1. A traditional Indian art practice involves designing elaborate patterns on floors using materials such as colored powders or flowers
2. An artistic cultural expression from India is formed by crafting detailed floor patterns with vibrant elements like rice or petals
3. A form of Indian folk art, this activity consists of creating intricate floor designs using colorful powders or natural materials such as flowers and grains

Etymology: Rangoli is a Hindi word, from रंगोली (raṅgolī), and its roots lie in the Sanskrit रङ्ग (raṅga), meaning "colour." The word thus names the art by its most visible quality: the bright powders, pastes and petals that make up the design. Its ancestry stretches back to Sanskrit, the classical language of South Asia, and it passed into English from modern Hindi. The same root gives a family of words across South Asian languages, where "raṅga" and its derivatives cover colour, dye and dyeing in general. Rangoli therefore sits within a broader vocabulary of colour that predates the English loanword by many centuries.