A thin, unleavened flatbread commonly eaten in Indian cuisine, similar to a tortilla or pita bread.
From Hindi chapāti, derived from Sanskrit चपत (chapata) meaning 'flat.' The word entered English through British colonial contact with India and has been adopted into English to describe this staple bread.
Chapati appears in English texts from the 1800s, showing how the British Empire didn't just take territory—it borrowed everyday words from the people it ruled. Today it's one of the most recognizable Indian words in English because millions of people eat it daily around the world.
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