Origin Story
Punch, the drink ladled out of a big bowl at parties, has the number "five" hidden inside it. In the 17th century, members of the British East India Company drank this beverage in India, where it was originally made from five ingredients: spirits (arrack or rum), water, lemon juice, sugar, and spice. The Indian word for "five" is panch, which traces back further to the Sanskrit pancha ("five"). When British sailors and merchants carried the drink home to England, the name punch came with it. So every time we drink punch, we are in a sense calling out the Indian word for "five."
The Sanskrit pancha ("five") is a distant relative of the Greek pente, the Latin quinque, and the English five. All of them are words for "five" that branched off from the same vast family, the Indo-European languages.
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Online Etymology Dictionarypunch (n.3): type of mixed drink, 1630s, traditionally said to derive from Hindi panch "five," in reference to the number of original ingredients
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Oxford English Dictionarypunch: probably from Hindi panch "five," because the drink had five ingredients
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Merriam-Webster Dictionarypunch: perhaps from Hindi & Urdu panch five, from Sanskrit pancha; from the number of ingredients
Word Evolution
Words from the Same Root
Memory Hook
Remember that a bowl of punch holds five ingredients — the same panch as in India's Punjab.
""A glass of punch was a little ensemble of five ingredients playing together.""
