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 etymology, shawl origin, 英语词源]