poncho

Etymology

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).

noun

1. A simple garment, made from a rectangle of cloth, with a slit in the middle for the head.
   Garibaldi, with his cowboy's poncho, red shirt and the black ostrich feathers in his wide hat […] 1975, Margery Turner Fisher, Who's Who in Children's Books, page 203
   It was a gringo in a poncho. It was not really accurate to his suits worn today, but Julia would understand the symbolism that he was adapting to the culture and expectations while far away from home. 2011, Bruce N. Anderson, Wingtips Under a Bolivian Poncho, page 130
2. A similar waterproof garment, today typically of rubber with a hood.
   […] spreading over my bedding an indian-rubber poncho to exclude the rain. 1845, William Jameson, “Botanical Excursion to Salinas, an Indian Village on Chimborazo”, in The London Journal of Botany, volume 4, page 382
   I […] took my seat between Juan and Ambrosio, protected from the rain by an India-rubber poncho. 1850, Romance of Modern Travel, page 43
   1857, Solomon Nunes Carvalho, Incidents of Travel and Adventure in the Far West, p. 48 (1857), p. 48 (1858):
   I found it necessary while doing guard to cover myself with my India-rubber poncho, to prevent my clothes from becoming saturated with water.
   The following list of articles is deemed a sufficient outfit for one man upon a three months’ expedition, viz.: […] 1 gutta percha poncho 1859, Randolph Barnes Marcy, The Prairie Traveler, page 39
   […] when near the old church in Manchester he was run against by a man whom he supposed to be a drunken man, who was dressed in a poncho overcoat. 1858, “Robbery in a Railway Carriage” (1858 March 29), Edmund Burke ed., Annual Register (collected 1859), March p. 59
   It is about the size of the rubber poncho used in the United States, […] 1888, William Eleroy Curtis, The capitals of Spanish America, page 505
   If you have to hike all day in a poncho, your pants will be wet thigh-high before long (never mind how fast you'll get wet if you have to go through wet brush or grass). 2001, Michael Rutter, Camping Made Easy, 2nd edition, page 98