shawl: [17] The shawl was originally an Oriental garment – an oblong strip of cloth worn variously over the shoulders, round the waist, or as a turban, and supposedly woven from the hair of a species of Tibetan goat. Versions of it did not begin to be worn in the West until the mid- 18th century. Its name comes via Urdu from Persian shāl, which may be derived from Shāliāt, an Indian town.
shawl (n.)
1660s, originally of a type of scarf worn in Asia, from Urdu and other Indian languages, from Persian shal, sometimes said to be named for Shaliat, town in India where it was first manufactured [Klein]. French châle, Spanish chal, Italian scialle, German Shawl (from English), Russian shal all are ultimately from the same source. As the name of an article of clothing worn by Western women, it is recorded from 1767.
