the country" and with time its usage shifted towards referring to people, cultures, and products of a specific region; for example, desi food, desi calendars, and desi dress.

Desi contrasts with the Bengali and Hindustani language word wilayati (Anglicised as "Blighty") meaning 'foreign', which more specifically came to mean 'European', and 'British'/'English' during the time of the British Raj in colonial India.