'baldachin' originates from Italian, specifically the word 'baldacchino', ultimately from Medieval Latin 'baldacchinus', where 'Baldacco' (an old Italian name for Baghdad) referred to luxurious brocade or cloth associated with that city.

'baldachin' changed from Medieval Latin 'baldacchinus' into Italian 'baldacchino' and via Old French/early modern English entered modern English as 'baldachin', used for a ceremonial canopy.

Initially, it referred to a rich cloth (a brocade) from Baghdad; over time it came to mean an ornamental canopy made from such cloth and then generally any ceremonial canopy.