1776, “dense growth of trees and other tangled vegetation,” such as that of some regions in India, from Hindi jangal “desert, forest, wasteland, uncultivated ground,” from Sanskrit jangala-s “arid, sparsely grown with trees,” a word of unknown origin.
I can’t tell if you meant to say “uninhibitated” or “uninhabited.” I get the impression you meant the latter, which would be in line with the idea of “desert” or “wasteland.”
Either way, the history of the word jungle reveals that its root might have applied to what we’d call today a savanna, which is where lions live. So, the title “King of the Jungle” could have made sense for lions at some point.
Actually the Indian Gir Lion does live in jungle/forest. As for the history of the word, the present meaning (forest) might’ve been used for longer by now (in India) than the old meaning.
And funnily enough, the Hindi word “sher” can mean either lion or tiger, although they do have a specific word for tiger, “bagh”. And we do have the same title/phrase in Hindi which could mean either lion or tiger is the king of the jungle. I personally never thought it was the tiger because when I was a child, the Lion King had already been released.
That’s so interesting! I guess the meme is moot if the question is asked in Hindi, haha.
I get the connection with the Lion King also. Speaking of animation from childhood, I’m now remembering an episode of Rugrats where the phrase “King of the Jungle” became an argument. Except on that show, the argument was over whether the title belonged to Tarzan or to King Kong.
Jungle
Source: Etymonline
I can’t tell if you meant to say “uninhibitated” or “uninhabited.” I get the impression you meant the latter, which would be in line with the idea of “desert” or “wasteland.”
Either way, the history of the word jungle reveals that its root might have applied to what we’d call today a savanna, which is where lions live. So, the title “King of the Jungle” could have made sense for lions at some point.
Actually the Indian Gir Lion does live in jungle/forest. As for the history of the word, the present meaning (forest) might’ve been used for longer by now (in India) than the old meaning.
And funnily enough, the Hindi word “sher” can mean either lion or tiger, although they do have a specific word for tiger, “bagh”. And we do have the same title/phrase in Hindi which could mean either lion or tiger is the king of the jungle. I personally never thought it was the tiger because when I was a child, the Lion King had already been released.
That’s so interesting! I guess the meme is moot if the question is asked in Hindi, haha.
I get the connection with the Lion King also. Speaking of animation from childhood, I’m now remembering an episode of Rugrats where the phrase “King of the Jungle” became an argument. Except on that show, the argument was over whether the title belonged to Tarzan or to King Kong.
Thanks for doing the research! Fun fact!