A water pipe used for smoking tobacco, with a long flexible tube and a bowl that bubbles smoke through water. Also called hookah or shisha.
From Arabic نَارْجِيلَة (nārjīla), derived from Persian نارگیل (nārgīl) meaning 'coconut,' as early water pipes were made from coconut shells. The word entered English through Turkish nargile in the 17th century via Ottoman trade.
The word 'narghile' literally means 'coconut' because the first water pipes were made from hollowed coconut shells! This smoking device traveled from India through Persia to the Arab world, picking up different names but keeping its coconut etymology.
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