"the East Indies," 1850, from Indo- "India" + Greek nēsos "island" (see Chersonese) + -ia. Formerly called Indian Archipelago or East Indies Islands (see Indies). Related: Indonesian "of or from the East Indies" (1850).

East Indies log raft, 1670s, from Hindi or Malayalam, from Tamil (Dravidian) kattu-maram "tied wood," from kattu "tie, binding" + maram "wood, tree." It also was used in the West Indies and South America.

"small poisonous tree of the West Indies and southern Florida," 1721, from poison (n.) + wood (n.).

"minute fle-like insect of the West Indies and South America," 1756, from West Indies chigoe (1660s), possibly from Carib, or from or influenced by words from African languages (such as Wolof and Yoruba jiga "insect").

large voracious fish of the West Indies and Florida, 1670s, barracoutha, from American Spanish barracuda, which is perhaps from a Carib word.

1590s of the fruit, 1610s of the tree, from Spanish, probably from Arawakan (West Indies) papaya.

sort of vetch cultivated in the East Indies, 1690s, from Hindi dal "split pulse," from Sanskrit dala, from dal "to split."

vegetable cultivated in the East and West Indies and southern U.S., 1670s, from a West African language (compare Akan nkruma "okra").