'chapati' originates from Hindi-Urdu, specifically the word 'chapati', where the verb element 'chap-' (from 'chapna') meant 'to slap' or 'to flatten'.

'chapati' changed from Sanskrit/Prakrit forms (cf. Sanskrit 'capātī' or related forms) into the Hindi-Urdu 'chapati', and was borrowed into English in the 19th century as 'chapati'.

Initially it referred to something 'slapped' or 'flattened' (relating to how the dough is flattened), and over time the word came to mean the specific flattened bread now called 'chapati'.