帕什米纳指的是一种精细的羊绒羊毛和由它制成的纺织物的统称，这种纺织物起源于印度。该名字来源于“Pashmineh”，在波斯语中来自“Pashm”，意思是“羊毛” 。这种羊毛来自于一种叫做changthangi或者Pashmina的山羊，这种山羊是由Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani首次在拉达克地区发现的，属于山羊的一种特殊品种，生活在印度、尼泊尔和巴基斯坦的喜马拉雅山脉地区。帕什米纳披肩则是指利用手工纺线，编织并且刺绣的一种纺织品，通常是在尼泊尔和克什米尔地区，并且由细山羊绒纤维制成。

Pashmina is a fine type of cashmere wool. The textiles made from it were first woven in Kashmir. The name comes from Persian:پشمینه‎‎ / pašmina, meaning "made from wool" and literally translates to "Soft Gold" in Kashmiri. The wool comes from four distinct breeds of the Cashmere goat; namely the Changthangi or Kashmir Pashmina goat from the Changthang plateau in Kashmir region, the Malra from Kargil area in Kashmir region, the Chegu from Himachal Pradesh in northern India, and Chyangara or Nepalese Pashmina goat from Nepal. Pashmina shawls are hand spun, and woven in Kashmir and Nepal, and made from fine cashmere fibre.