parka

n.

1. A hooded fur outer garment worn in the Arctic, originally of pullover design but now generally having a front closure.
2. A coat or jacket with a hood and usually a warm lining for cold-weather wear.

[Alaskan Russian, pelt, ultimately of Nenets origin.]

from Nenets
This word originated in Russia

If you want cold, go to Siberia. If you want really cold, go to the treeless tundra in the far north of Siberia and spend a winter herding reindeer with the Nenets. There your only shelter will be a tent covered with reindeer skin. It's a good thing they invented parkas.

Many of the Nenets still enjoy their traditional nomadic life. Their culture centers on reindeer, which provide food, clothing, and shelter, and are their only kind of wealth; a family is rich depending on the number of reindeer in its herd. During the arctic winters, a hooded pullover parka made of reindeer skin is a necessary part of a man's winter clothing. (Nenets women traditionally wear something different: a long overcoat that fastens in the front and has no hood.) "Thanks to the reindeer skin," notes a recent visitor, "the Nenets wearing it can do without washing for months."

The name parka comes from the Nenets language, which belongs to the Uralic language family, along with Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian. No English speakers were around to hear the Nenets speak of parkas, but the Russians did, and they passed the word on to native peoples in Alaska, who in turn gave it to us. The first English use of the word is in William Coxe's 1780 Account of the Russian Discoveries Between Asia and America: "The inhabitants of Alaxa, Umnak, Unalaksha ... wear coats (parki) made of bird skins."

Today there are about 27,000 speakers of Nenets in northern Russia and Siberia. They have not yet given our language any other words.

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a kind of heavy jacket (`windcheater' is a British term)
  Synonyms: windbreaker, windcheater, anorak

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - parka(coat)

Nederlands (Dutch)
parka

Français (French)
n. - parka

Deutsch (German)
n. - Parka

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - δερμάτινο πανωφόρι των Εσκιμώων με κουκούλα

Italiano (Italian)
giacca a vento, giaccone di pelliccia, piumino

Português (Portuguese)
n. - parka (f) (agasalho de lã com capuz)

Русский (Russian)
парка

Español (Spanish)
n. - anorak, campera con capucha

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - parkas, anorak

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
皮制大衣

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 皮製大衣

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 두건 달린 모피 옷, 두건달린 긴 웃옷, 파카

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - パーカ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) فروة, معطف فرو يرتديه الأسكيمويين ومتسلقي الجبال الباردة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מעיל (מבורדס), מעיל אטום למים‬

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parka	swim parka
Remington Parka	woolrich parka