shikar

en-verb

shikar (third-person singular simple present shikars, present participle shikaring or shikarring, simple past and past participle shikared or shikarred)

shikars (present singular third-person)
shikaring (participle present)
shikarring (participle present)
shikared (participle past)
shikared (past)
shikarred (participle past)
shikarred (past)

(India, dated, transitive, intransitive) To hunt; to go hunting.


motorman

Near-synonym: engineer


ekka

He said that he was ‘going to shoot big game’, and left at half-past ten o'clock in an ekka.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, “Thrown Away”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio Society, published 2005, page 19:

Throughout India the ekka is the ordinary vehicle in which the natives travel, and until recent times was the only one available to Europeans.

2007, J.A. Hammerton, Peoples of All Nations: Their Life Today and Story of Their Past (in 14 Volumes), page 2779:

(India) A small vehicle used in India, pulled by a single horse.


indorse

indorse (third-person singular simple present indorses, present participle indorsing, simple past and past participle indorsed)

indorses (present singular third-person)
indorsing (participle present)
indorsed (participle past)
indorsed (past)

Alteration influenced by Medieval Latin indorsare of Middle English endosse, from Old French endosser (“to put on back”), from Latin dossum, alternative form of dorsum (“back”), from which also dorsal (“of the back”). That is, the ‘r’ was dropped in Latin dossum, which developed into Old French and then Middle English endosse, and then the ‘r’ was re-introduced into English via the Medieval Latin indorsare, which had retained the ‘r’; at the same time the ‘e’ (French) was changed to ‘i’ (Latin) (in-, rather than en-). Note that the alternative form endorse is now more common, retaining the restored ‘r’ but reverting to the initial ‘e’, rather than the Latinate ‘i’.

(British, India, rare) Alternative form of endorse


naik

From Sanskrit नायक (nāyaka, “leader, governor”).

cog

1888: Also, he had to keep his temper … especially once when he was abused by a Naik he had himself recruited from Isser Jang village — Rudyard Kipling, ‘Miss Youghal's Sais’, Plain Tales from the Hills (Folio Society 2007, p. 26)

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer

(India, Pakistan, Nepal) A non-commissioned officer equivalent to corporal in a corps of Indian, Pakistani or Nepalese soldiers.


bamboo

en-verb

bamboo (third-person singular simple present bamboos, present participle bambooing, simple past and past participle bambooed)

bamboos (present singular third-person)
bambooing (participle present)
bambooed (participle past)
bambooed (past)

Etymology tree
Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu
Tamil வேம்பு (vēmpu)bor.
Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu
Kannada ಬಂಬು (bambu)bor.
Malay bambubor.
Portuguese bambubor.
Dutch bamboebor.
English bamboo
Borrowed from Dutch bamboe, from Portuguese bambu, from Malay bambu, from Kannada ಬಂಬು (bambu), variant form of ಬೇವು (bēvu). Cognate with Malayalam വേപ്പ് (vēppŭ), Telugu వేప (vēpa), from Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu (“neem”).

etymon

If you're just a girl from Lucknow, with no fluid cash, you'll be just one more among thousands going from producer to producer by auto-rickshaw, and every photographer who agrees to take a picture for your portfolio will want to introduce you to his bed upstairs in the loft. And what you'll get out of all this in the end is a lot of bambooing and maybe a dance or two in his videos.

2006, Vikram Chandra, Sacred Games, Penguin, published 2008:

One scene of attachment and intimacy shows Vijay careening into their shared apartment dead drunk and insulting a praying Ajay for his devotion to the household god, Hanuman […], saying that instead of being rescued Ajay will be "bamboo-ed," a popular slang for anal penetration.

2013, Nandini Bhattacharya, chapter 5, in Hindi Cinema: Repeating the Subject, London: Routledge:


aapa

From Urdu آپا (āpā) / Bengali আপা (apa).

I am close to bhai and his wife Shaffo, whom I call aapa, who herself is a well-read person and a true soul-mate to her husband.

2006, Asha Ranawa, Woman's Triumph, page 46:

(Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, rare) A sister that is older than oneself; also used as a term of familiarity or respect toward a woman that is older.


bunya

(dated, India) A banyan, a member of a specific Hindu caste.


polki

We're doing a lot of polki or uncut diamond jewellery sets in real gold. A lot of brides are opting for polki jewellery because it looks dressier and works better for a wedding.

2010 December 20, Radhika Sangam, “Smart tips to buy jewellery for a lifetime”, in India Today:


tiffin

en-noun

tiffin (countable and uncountable, plural tiffins)

Chinese Pidgin English: tiffin

→ Macanese: tifim, tifinâ

Apparently from English tiffing, present participle of tiff (“to take a small drink, to sip”) (slang).

[…] I bought a pine-apple at the same time, which I gave to Sambo. Let's have it for tiffin; very cool and nice this hot weather.

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “The Green Silk Purse”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 31:

That garden belongs to Manockjee Metta; that day many of us met and had tiffin and supper. At tiffin there were ten of us.

1845, A Detailed Report of the Proceedings on the Trial of the Eighteen Parsee Prisoners for Murder, before the Supreme Court, Bombay, on Wednesday, July 17, 1844. Also, an Appendix, Containing the Examinations, Depositions, and Confessions of the Prisoners after Trial. With a Petition to the Queen in Council, from the Native and European Inhabitants, on Behalf of the Prisoners, London: Samuel Clarke, 13 Pall Mall East, →OCLC, page 42:

"Bring sahib coffee at six in the morning; breakfast at nine; tiffin at one." / "What's that last one, Moro?" / "We had tiffin at Suez, and it means luncheon," interposed Morris. / "I didn't hear the word; but it is all right, and tiffin it is after this time. Come; are you going down-stairs, fellows?"

1895, Oliver Optic [pseudonym; William Taylor Adams], Across India, or, Live Boys in the Far East (All-over-the-World Library; 3rd ser.), Boston, Mass.: Lee and Shepard, Publishers, 10 Milk Street, →OCLC:

Had tiffin at 11.30 a.m. 1½ rations of rice with fried fish. Added frying oil and soup powder. Excellent, both in quantity and quality, but stomach is a bit troublesome. Can't wonder at it really!

2004, Harry Berry, My Darling Wife, or, How I Passed the Time of Day Between 18th April 1940 and 5th November 1945: Being the Unexpurgated Letters, Diaries and Other Scribblings of an Ordinary Soldier, Hertford: Authors OnLine Ltd., →ISBN, page 288:

Tiffin is an old colonial term. Often thought of as a snack taken with afternoon tea, tiffin is actually a light lunch eaten at midday. Indian colonial writings make numerous references to tiffin. […] Tiffin was not always the lightest of meals. In a 1904 account, Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, an American travel writer and photographer, described the overindulgent culinary order of the day in colonial Calcutta: "The solid two-o'clock tiffin, following the heavy ten-o'clock breakfast, is so soon succeeded by the four-o'clock tea and the eight-o'clock dinner, that it is a surprise that any one survives the constant feasting which fills Anglo-Indian life."

2008, Sarah Murray, Moveable Feasts: From Ancient Rome to the 21st Century, the Incredible Journeys of the Food We Eat, New York, N.Y.: Picador, →ISBN, pages 88–89:

Tiffin work started with Raghunath Medge's father, who worked first of all at Bombay Churchgate station. When the British Raj was in power, then there was work at Churchgate. The people who worked at Girni had tiffin delivered to them. […] People went out early in the morning and tiffin was delivered later.

2013, Sara Roncaglia, Feeding the City: Work and Food Culture of the Mumbai Dabbawalas, Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, →DOI, →ISBN, page 22:

(British, India) A (light) midday meal or snack; luncheon.

"Young memsahib, an empty tiffin box costs ten rupees in the market. With the food, it's worth maybe fifteen rupees. Do you think I could retire after I steal it?" the man said. “I'm getting late. Do you want your husband to get his lunch or not? That last one's for him, isn't it?" He jerked his chin at the tiffin Anahita was still hugging.

2011, Mahtab Narsimhan, The Tiffin, Toronto, Ont.: Dancing Cat Books, →ISBN:

(British, India) A box or container used to carry a tiffin.


tiffin

en-verb

tiffin (third-person singular simple present tiffins, present participle tiffining, simple past and past participle tiffined)

tiffins (present singular third-person)
tiffining (participle present)
tiffined (participle past)
tiffined (past)

Do you know that he tiffins with her three times a week, and every night, after leaving here, he finishes the evening in her society, sitting in the veranda and smoking cigarettes till all hours.

1884, B[ithia] M[ary] Croker, Pretty Miss Neville. A Novel. (Harper's Franklin Square Library; no. 363), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Bros., →OCLC, page 328:

Pack had been tiffining by himself to the right of the arch, and had heard everything.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Bisara of Pooree”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co.; London: W. Thacker & Co., →OCLC, page 223:

Slept, tiffined, and read in heat of the day. At 4 p.m. hunted again, and finished the evening with a jolly good dinner.

1899, Henry Keppel, A Sailor's Life under Four Sovereigns, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co.; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Co., →OCLC, page 336:

And so I lay at Arashiyama which is near Kyoto, in a yellow straw tea-house overlooking the beautiful river of which I have written, my mouth full of fried mountain trout and my soul soaking in a great calm. […] The lady of the tea-house insisted upon screening us off from the other pleasure-parties who were tiffining in the same verandah, and we were left alone with the trout.

1988, Rudyard Kipling, “1889: Letter Six”, in Hugh Cortazzi, George Webb, editors, Kipling's Japan: Collected Writings, London, Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: The Athlone Press, →ISBN, page 98:

From the diary it would appear that the main activities were shooting, walking, and alternating meals on each other's boat. "We dined with them. They tiffined with us." "Tiffined with them. They dined with us."

2011, Elizabeth Clinch, Nicholas Clinch, Through a Land of Extremes: The Littledales of Central Asia (Legends and Lore Series), Seattle, Wash.: The Mountaineers Books, →ISBN, page 73:

(British, India, intransitive) To eat a (light) midday meal or snack.


matki

(India) The plant Vigna aconitifolia, moth bean.


matki

(India) Alternative form of matka (“earthenware pot”)


Bharat

Transliteration of Hindi भारत (bhārat), from Sanskrit भारत (bhārata). Related to Bharata.

In Why Bharat Matters (“Bharat” is the Modi-favoured Hindi word for India, and he uses it throughout), Jaishankar makes a compelling case that the world needs an economically growing, diplomatically nimble and digitally connected India, not least at a time of US decline.

[2024 May 4, John Reed, “How to interpret India?”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 9:

(chiefly India, poetic) India: the Republic of India.


resection

resection (third-person singular simple present resections, present participle resectioning, simple past and past participle resectioned)

resections (present singular third-person)
resectioning (participle present)
resectioned (participle past)
resectioned (past)

The road from Periwegon to Ananbaw was resectioned and raised in places.

1908, Burma Rights Movement for Action, Report on the Administration of Burma, page 54:

...a very large quantity of metal obtained by resectioning and cutting down roads to the regulation camber was used in repairs.

1911, Report on the Municipal Administration of Calcutta, page xv:

The quantity of asphalt used will vary with the nature of the work. Where no resectioning of the road is necessary, i.e., where the new 2" layer is uniform in thickness on the picked up old surface 0-9cwt, or 100lbs. per 100 sq. ft. will be sufficient, as the binding material in the old surface works up through the new metal.

1960, E. L. Marryat, P. W. D. Handbook, Bombay:

(civil engineering, chiefly India) To remove material from the surface of a road in order to achieve a uniform thickness.


upgradation

(computing, nonstandard, proscribed, chiefly India) Upgrade; upgrading.


atta

en-noun

atta (countable and uncountable, plural attas)

From Hindi आटा (āṭā, “flour, farina, dough”).

Kabutri, in the meanwhile, had kneaded some atta and rolled out a few real rotis.

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 7:

The little bits of atta on her hands turned the water a milky white and that was all she could offer to her children’s hunger.

2020, Shruti Swamy, A House Is a Body: Stories, Algonquin Books:

(India) A type of wholegrain flour from the Indian subcontinent.


PWA

Progressive Writers' Association
w:Progressive Writers' Association

(historical, India, Pakistan) Initialism of Progressive Writers' Association.


oustee

The state government will consider constitution of a fact finding committee to take up issues of Pong Dam oustees so that relief can be provided to them.

2005 January 17, “Panel to take up dam oustee issues”, in The Tribune Online Edition, India:

(chiefly India) A person who is ousted, especially one who is removed from his place of residence or land to make room for an infrastructure improvement or public works project.


patchery

(UK, India, military, historical) Living quarters for married soldiers.


dandi

In cases of short temporary illness a dandi may occasionally be very useful. Any strong pole, with a cloth sufficiently large, elliptically folded, and solidly attached to it in a longitudinal form, may at once be converted into a dandi.

1863, Results of a Scientific Mission to India and High Asia:

A dandi is a kind of chair and foot-rest, so mounted on a framework of wood and iron rods that it can be carried by one man when it is empty, and by four men at a time when it has a passenger.

1912, Arthur Clinton Boggess, First Days in India, page 124:

In the course of unloading of the goods from a steamer, a dandi working on the boat enganged himself in the rope which was thrown from the steamer for the purposes of tying the boat and suffered injury.

1974, Indian Factories & Labour Reports, volume 28, India Supreme Court, page 6:

A rickshaw would move off, a dandi would swing by, and the rest would once again wait for the cry, “Dandi!”, “Dandi!”. Deoli and his companions were left to wait each time in the race and the rush.

2015, Attia Hosain, Distant Traveller: New and Selected Fiction:

(India) Alternative form of dandy, a boatman, a Shaiva mendicant, a basic sedan chair.


macchi

(India, cooking) Any of several white fish used in Indian cooking


Macaulayism

From Macaulay + -ism, from the name of Thomas Babington Macaulay, who was instrumental in introducing English as a medium of instruction for higher education in India.

(India, derogatory) The act of westernization of upper class Indians using educational reform.


marg

From Hindi मार्ग (mārg). Doublet of marga.


Ganga

Transliteration of Hindi गंगा (gaṅgā) or Sanskrit गङ्गा (gaṅgā). Doublet of Ganges.


Srimati

From Sanskrit श्रीमत् (śrīmat, “beautiful, charming, lovely, pleasant, splendid, glorious”).


naka

Borrowed from Hindustani نَاکَا (nākā) / नाका (nākā).

(India) A place where workers assemble to seek employment.


arab

(India, rare) billion (sense 1); 1,000,000,000; or with Indian digit grouping, 1,00,00,00,000.


bunnia

Borrowed from Hindi बनिया (baniyā), ultimately from Sanskrit वणिज् (vaṇij). Doublet of banyan.

I dare not tell, do anything, or get anything done, because I am in debt to Bhangwan Dass the bunnia for two gold rings and a heavy anklet.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, “In the House of Suddhoo”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 103:

Of what the Englishman's business would consist, the Raja made no enquiry: he was a zemindar after all, not a bania in a bazar, sitting cross-legged on a countertop.

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 84:


jeera

The vegetarian menu had [...] pizza speckled with jeera.

2020, Avni Doshi, Burnt Sugar, Hamish Hamilton, page 148:


tabela

(India) stable or shed (for horses, cows, etc.)


BNS

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
w:Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

(India, criminal law) Initialism of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the official criminal code of India.


chamcha

Borrowed from Hindi चम्चा (camcā, “sycophant, hanger-on, lackey”, literally “spoon”).

bor

1989. Stuart Auerbach. Washington Post. (Mar. 26) “Nehru and His Nation”
M J Akbar has been called a chamcha to the Gandhi family, and some of that slavish devotion shows up in his uncritical acceptance of Nehru’s government-dominated economic program and the erosion of the country’s grass roots political structure as a result of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Chamcha Sycophant (lit. ‘spoon’). 1997. Ghulam Nabi Azad. India Today (June 23) p. 13: I have my own standing in the party. I cannot be anybody’s chamcha (stooge).

1994. William Dalrymple City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi (Dec. 1) “Glossary” p. 340

1997. Sudhir Vaishnav. Times of India. (Aug. 24) “A very political exercise”
Several hangers-on. They are available aplenty everywhere in the country and are often known in the local market as Chamcha.

No doubt, the United Kingdom also had their sycophants—toadys, bachhas, jholichuks and hukkabardars—but chamchas of the modern vintage they had none. Chamchas are a breed apart.

1998 January 17, “In Praise of Chamchagiri”, in P.S. Sharma Times of India:

Leaders’ chamchas get lucky”: All three have pulled strings in their respective parties to get Assembly poll tickets for their puppets and close confidants, better known in political parlance as chamchas.

2004. Krishnakumar. Midday (Mumbai, India) (Sept. 21)

(India, colloquial) A sycophant and hanger-on or lackey.


Tollywood

(India, informal) A nickname for Film Nagar.; A district of Hyderabad, Telangana, India


gurry

Among those in general use that have drawn the attention of Europeans living in India, are the alloys for the gurry, and the Biddery ware. The gurry is a disk of a cubit and upwards in diameter, about half an inch in thickness in the centre, but decreasing toward the circumference, where it is scarcely more than 1/4 of an inch. It is used to mark the divisions of time, by striking it with a wooden mallet.

1814, The Annals of Philosophy - Volume 2, page 260:

As they have no hour glasses, they measure their time by a kind of clepsydra. It is a small brass basin, about four inches in diameter, made thin enough to float on the water, with a hole in the bottom which admits as much as to fill it exactly in one gurry, or twenty-two and a half minutes. The sinking, therefore, of the vessel, is the signal for striking the gurry, and warning the inhabitants.

1823, William Brown, Antiquities of the Jews, page 138:

54 On the 18th, we halted at sunset, as usual, and most of us were walking out into the woods -- some getting wood for cooking, others looking for hares — when we heard a gurry strike seven o'clock.

1853, John Ryder, Four Years' Service in India, page 54:

(historical, India) A circular gong that was struck at regular intervals to indicate the time.

Maha Rajah then got up, and we three likewise took our leaves; when we went into an outer house, Seat Bollakey Doss said to me, Do you likewise come along with me; and I haveing gotten a bond written out and sealed, you will see it done; he having said this, I agreed; he having got into his palankeen went away, we four people followed him, he having gone with his palankeen, half a gurry after we followed him, we likewise arrived at his house.

1776, Nandakumara (Mahārāja), The Trial of Maha Rajah Nundocomar, Bahader, for Forgery, page 68:

Half a gurry after that, I went away too.

1816, Thomas Bayly Howell, A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors, page 997:

(historical, India) The time interval indicated by striking the gurry. Originally, this was twenty-two and a half minutes, but later, under British influence, changed to an hour.

Since then, and in the course of yesterday afternoon, the town and gurry of Jubbulpore have been entirely evacuated by armed people of every description.

1819, Sylvanus Urban, “Interesting Intelligence from the London Gazettes”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, page 262:

This was without the village, which, independently of the clay-built wall with which it was encircled, is further protected by a gurry, or little fort, on the acclivity of the hill, which arises from it to the westward.

1839, David Price, Edward Moor, Memoirs of the Early Life and Service of a Field Officer:

Immediately after this, Sir Hugh Rose received an express, reporting that a large body of rebels, reinforced by such of the garrison as had escaped from Rathghur, had concentrated at Barodia, a strong village on the left bank of the river Beena, with a "gurry," or small fort, surrounded by dense jungle, situated about twenty-two miles from Rathghur.

1886, The Asiatic Quarterly Review - Volume 1, page 94:


feni

en-noun

feni (usually uncountable, plural fenis)

A shot of Indian-made spirits is about Rs 40 to 60 (mixers cost extra) and a shot of feni is Rs 20.[…]Goans are keen to offer advice to foreigners; don't drink it on an empty stomach, don't mix it with other spirits, and certainly don't swim after a couple of fenis.

The Department of Agriculture's official definition of feni is many soulless removes from its ebullient metaphysics; ‘Feni (the more accurate rendering, as opposed to the Portuguese 'fenim') has achieved the status of a generic term applying to a wide variety of distilled alcoholic liquors derived from extracts of the coconut palm and the cashew fruit.'

2006, Frank Simoes, “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Feni but Were Too Drunk to Ask”, in Jerry Pinto, editor, Reflected in Water: Writings on Goa, page 243:

Feni is really country liquor that has risen from its lowly status.[…]Whatever claims the Goans may lay to its potency, feni is no stronger than whisky or vodka.

2009, Bhaichand Patel, Happy Hours: The Penguin Book of Cocktails, unnumbered page:

(India) An alcoholic drink made in Goa, India, from fermented cashew apples or coconut toddy (sap).


chuckler

From Tamil சக்கிலி (cakkili), denoting a member of a sub-caste of Dalits often employed in shoemaking.

(India, archaic) A shoemaker, a cobbler.


bahadur

Transliteration of Hindustani بہادر / बहादुर (bahādur, “brave, valiant”), from Classical Persian بهادر (bahādur). Doublet of bogatyr.

(India, historical) A Mughal honorific connoting martial courage and valor, suffixed to name or title, which it raises by half a degree. Commonly bestowed upon loyal princes and victorious military commanders by Mughal emperors, and later by their British successors.


PJ

To share the secret with you, just in case you are not a Delhite, 'PJ' stands for, yes, "Poor Joke.'

1987, Sainik Samachar, volume 34, Director of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence, page 11:

“No, I don't,” I replied and quickly asked, “so, where are you now?” “Here, in front of you,” she replied with a witty smile. “I meant what are you doing these days—your occupation?” I smiled innocently. A PJ (poor joke) indeed.

2018, Kishor Kunal, The Casted Minds: A Nation where Purity of Blood Matters:


subah

Borrowed from Urdu صوبہ (sūbā, “province”).

bor+

Hindostan was then parcelled out into twelve grand divisions, called soobahs, to each of which a viceroy was assigned, by the title of Soobahdar, corruptly written Soobah by European writers; for, soobah signifies province: many of these soobahs were in extent equal to large European kingdoms.

1806, [Thomas Maurice], Indian Antiquities: Or, Dissertations Relative to the Antient Geographical Divisions, […] of Hindostan: […] , volume I. Containing the Dissertation on the Antient Geographical Divisions of Hindostan, London: Printed […] by C. & W. Galabin […] and sold by John White […] , pages 231–232:

Upon this, Mirzapha Jung immediately assumed the subah, and nominated Chunda Saheb governor of the Carnatic.

1818, “Review of The History of British India by James Mill, Esq.”, in The British Review, and London Critical Journal, volume 12, pages 253–54:

(India, historical) A province of the Mughal Empire.

(India, historical) Synonym of subadar (“the governor or commander in charge of a subah; a viceroy”)


teacheress

/ˌtiːt͡ʃəˈɹɛs/

From Middle English techeresse, equivalent to teacher + -ess.

The plan of the Teacheress to erect a large building for us, and to educate our daughters, pleases us exceedingly, and we send fifteen rupees to assist the Teacheress in providing for them.

1858 August, a letter to Mrs. Mason, quotee, “Christians in Burmah”, in The Wesleyan Junior Offering:

(archaic except India) A female teacher.


asana

(India) Indian laurel, asna (Terminalia elliptica, syn. Terminalia tomentosa), Terminalia alata, of south and southeastern Asia.


Sapta Sindhu

From सप्त (sapta, “seven”) + सिन्धु (síndhu, “river, stream”). This expression in English incorporates a grammatical error: Sindhu is the nominative singular; used with "seven", the noun should, of course, be in the plural: Sindhava:/Sindhavas, सप्तसिंधव: (saptasiṃdhava:, “seven rivers”), which is the term used in Sanskrit.

The settlers in Sapta Sindhu composed the Rig Veda, the first of the Vedas, the ancient sacred writings of the Hindu religion.

2006, Marshall Cavendish Corporation, World and Its Peoples, page 316:

(Hinduism, India) The seven sacred rivers in Indian mythology, often referred to in Rigveda and in Zend Avesta. They are often located in the Punjab region in northwestern India / northern Pakistan.


khana

Borrowed from Hindustani کھانا (khānā) / खाना (khānā), from Sanskrit खादन (khādana), from खाद् (khād, “to eat”, root) + -अन (-ana), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kʰād-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷh₂ed-.


chowk

From Hindi चौक (cauk, “plaza, square, courtyard”), from Sanskrit चतुष्क (catuṣka, “quadrangular courtyard, crossway”).

der

(India, Pakistan) An intersection or roundabout, where tracks or roads cross (often used in place names).

The all-important Jilmil bus was about to arrive at the chowk.

2015, Arupa Patangia Kalita, translated by Ranjita Biswas, Written in Tears, Harper Perennial, page 61:

(India, Pakistan) A marketplace or open area in a city or village.


ghat

Borrowed from Hindi घाट (ghāṭ, “pier”), from Sanskrit घट्ट (ghaṭṭa, “a landing-place, steps on the side of a river leading to the waters”), from Dravidian. Compare Telugu గట్టు (gaṭṭu, “dam, embankment”), కట్ట (kaṭṭa, “dam, embankment”), derived from కట్టు (kaṭṭu, “to tie”).

The abrupt escarpment of the western Ghats condenses so much of the moisture of the south-west monsoon

1855, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Flora Indica:

Chunks of wood were being built into funeral pyres on the steps of the ghat that went down into the water; four bodies were burning on the ghat steps when we got there.

2008, Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger, Atlantic, published 2009, page 16:

(India) A descending path or stairway to a river; a ford or landing-place.

And farther south, in the interior of the Peninsula, in the elevated tract from 1200 to 2400 feet above the sea, between the Eastern and Western Ghats

1885, Edward Balfour, Cyclopaedia of India:

On the steps of the Manikarnika ghat—the holiest of the city’s stepped riverbanks, upon which Hindu dead are cremated—the fires are already lit, and mourners assemble by the hundred to accompany their loved ones at the end.

2023 November 30, Oliver Franklin-Wallis, “Inside India’s Gargantuan Mission to Clean the Ganges River”, in Wired, →ISSN:


lappa

From English lap (“a stroke somewhere between a pull and a sweep”).

When the ball bounced, the open stance was a good preliminary position from which to play the cross-batted swipe or lappa.

2010, Mukul Kesavan, Keshwani Mukul, Men in White (page 12)


doli

This is a very miserable conveyance, used by the middling rank of native men; but has been improved, by Europeans, into the Doli for conveying the sick, by lengthening it so as to admit the passenger to lie at length.

1838, Montgomery Martin, The History, Antiquities, Topography, and Statistics of Eastern India..., volume III, page 119:

...bahlis, chakras, bullock-carts, dolis, tattus, palkis, miyanas, kharkharinas, bajras and chaupalas, were the common vehicles.

1911, Calendar of Persian Correspondence..., page xxvi:

The Muslim ladies who earlier moved out in covered palanquins, dolis and muhafas or completely veiled coaches and victorias are now obliged to go about in tongas, rikshaws and buses leaving aside the earlier scruples.

1972, Abulhasan 'Ali Nadvi, The Musalman, page 42:

(India, chiefly historical) Alternative form of dooly (“basic Indian litter”)


sanda

Ultimately from Sanskrit षण्ढ (ṣaṇḍha, “eunuch, hermaphrodite”), which is often conflated with साण्ड (sāṇḍa, “bull”) in New Indo-Aryan languages due to sound change.

Vasubandhu at (II.1c) (and elsewhere in the Abhidharmakosa, see Note 13) draws a distinction between the sanda and the pandaka, which Yasomitra understands in the following way: pandakas are those individuals who have lost their indriya, that is, the masculinity or femininity principle, through some means (upakrama), whereas sanda is taken to apply to category 1, the congenitally impotent.

1992, Jos Ignacio Cabez, Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender, →ISBN, page 211:

But when this normal posture is reverse and a male partner lies below down in supine position and female partner lies upon him in prone posture while doing intercourse, they will develop a "sanda-child".

1994, Suśruta, Suśruta-saṃhitā: Śārīrasthānam, page 37:

Furthermore, according to Abhidharmakosa 6.23b, when one attains certain higher stages of the path, one will never again be reborn as a sanda, pandaka or hermaphrodite.

2000, Julia Leslie, Mary McGee, Invented Identities: The Interplay of Gender, Religion and Politics in India:

Vasubandhu, for example, states that sexual deviants, along with eunuchs (sanda) and hermaphrodites, “possess, to an extreme degree, the defilements of the senses.

2012, John Powers, A Bull of a Man, →ISBN, page 82:

(India) A man who is congenitally impotent.


rajanigandha

(India) The tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa (now Agave amica).


Rajkumari

Borrowed from Hindi राजकुमारी (rājkumārī).


gular

Goolar, or Doomur. Ficus glomerata.

1836, “Appendix No. II. List of Specimens of Wood from India, &c. Presented to the Society by Capt. H. C. Baker, of the Bengal Artillery.”, in Transactions of the Society Instituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce: […], volume L, London: […] J. Moyes, […][for the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce], →OCLC:

These [black-eared flying foxes (Pteropus melanotus, formerly edulis)] I have now in captivity (five in number) are fed on goolars, (Ficus glomerata), which they chew in the manner above mentioned, until they have extracted all the juice, when the remaining pulp is ejected out of the mouth.

1842 April, Lieut. Tickell, “Remarks on Pteropus Edulis, Geoffroy”, in John M‘Clelland, editor, The Calcutta Journal of Natural History: […], volume III, number IX, Calcutta, West Bengal: W. Risdale, Bishop’s College Press, →OCLC, page 34:

Conceive a large and beautiful sheet of calm, clear, and silvery water, [...] embanked with huge blocks of cut granite, embrowned by the shade of magnificent burgots, goolars, jâmuns, and peepuls, under which bright, small Hindoo temples, carefully white-washed, might be seen in their shade; [...]

1843, C[harles] J[ames] C. Davidson, Diary of Travels and Adventures in Upper India, […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 244–245:

I then sat down under a goolar tree, to wait for his appearance. The goolar is a species of fig, and the leaves are much relished by cattle and goats.

1878, “Maori” [pseudonym; James Inglis], chapter VI, in Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier: Or Twelve Years Sporting Reminiscences of an Indigo Planter, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 58:

The gular (ficus glomerata), the bargad, which is another name for the banyan, and the pakar (ficus venosa) are all members of the fig tribe, the Levites of the forest. The gular yields a larger fruit than the banyan, and is a good deal used as a food. In the extremely hot weather of this year, the writer found that mysterious holes were being dug by night round the roots of a large gular tree in his compound. On inquiring into the cause, he found that the servants were incising the roots to obtain the juice which they said they drank to keep up their strength during the heat. [From The Statesman.]

1906 July, “Some Indian Trees”, in [Prithwis Chandra Ray], editor, The Indian World, volume IV, number 16, Calcutta, West Bengal: […] The Cherry Press, […], →OCLC, page 53:

[page 56] Goolar Ficus racemosa [...] Widely distributed especially near water, the goolar qualifies as a native Delhi tree. [...] [page 57] According to folk wisdom, there runs a hidden stream under every goolar tree. This is not unfounded – the goolar is a 'riparian' tree, growing naturally near streams or ponds in moist, clayey loams.

2006, Pradip Krishen, “Jamun-like Leaves”, in Trees of Delhi: A Field Guide, New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India), →ISBN, pages 56–57:

Carpet Sahib had picked up our trail, and the police would follow us all the way through the gular trees, to guess where we were headed.

2009 November, Sujit Saraf, The Confession of Sultana Daku, New Delhi: Hamish Hamilton, →ISBN, page 194:

Many of the trees of different species have special associations with particular deities. For example, the Lord Vishnu is associated with the ‘Pipal’ (Ficus religiosa), ‘Bargad’ (Ficus benghalensis), and ‘Gular’ (Ficus glomerata); [...] the Lord Dattatreya with ‘Gular’ (Ficus glomerata); [...]

2017, G. Singh, “Sacred Places, Trees and Groves: An Overview”, in Sacred Groves of Rajasthan: Threats and Management Strategies, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, New Delhi: […] [F]or Arid Forest Research Institute by Scientific Publishers (India), →ISBN, page 23:

Ficus racemosa
Ficus racemosa#Translingual

(India) Synonym of cluster fig (“Ficus racemosa, a species of plant in the family Moraceae; the edible fruit of this plant”).


fag-end

And though the annals of the period do not shew us that there was less ale drawn, or less canary called for; men got dry with the heat of polemical discussion, and drunk with a text, not the fag end of a ballad, in their mouths; and people made a sort of morality of straight hair, long faces, and sad-coloured garments.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 190:

He wanted to drop the gentleman and go down into the ranks, beginning on the lowest rung of the ladder, where no one would know of his disgrace or mind it if he did know; his father and mother on the other hand would wish him to clutch on to the fag-end of gentility at a starvation salary and with no prospect of advancement.

1873–1884 (date written), Samuel Butler, chapter LXVII, in R[ichard] A[lexander] Streatfeild, editor, The Way of All Flesh, London: Grant Richards, published 1903, →OCLC, page 300:

He was out of his mind, completely and for ever mad, with this sudden shock coming upon the fag-end of his endurance.

1898 September, Joseph Conrad, “Youth: a Narrative”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXIV, number DCCCCXCV, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publication Co., page 315, column 1:

But spatchcocked into the proceedings at the fag-end of the morning was a crisp and useful debate on toxic substances.

1981, Tam Dalyell, New Scientist, 22nd Oct. issue, Fresh Air at Brighton, page 265


qualityness

(rare, India, philosophy) The state or quality of being or having quality.


mofussil

en-noun

mofussil (countable and uncountable, plural mofussils)

Borrowed from Bengali মফস্বল (mophośśol), from Classical Persian مفصل (mufassal), from Arabic مُفَصَّل (mufaṣṣal), passive participle of فَصَّلَ (faṣṣala, “to divide, classify”).

bor+

Such are the means by which the Mofussil, “up-country,” or provincial Anglo-Indian will reach his station or district, and unless he is going to Bombay or Calcutta, which are practically the two entrance doors of the Empire, with Madras for a back door, his first experience of Anglo-Indian life will be of travel; and the land journey will often prove much more trying than the sea-voyage.

1904, Herbert Compton, Indian Life in Town and Country:

His natural language was crass and of the mofussil, yet he could pepper it with smart turns of phrase on occasion.

2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 3

(India) Originally, the regions of India outside the three East India Company capitals of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras; hence, parts of a country outside an urban centre; the regions, rural areas.


subadar

From Hindi सूबेदार (sūbedār) / Urdu صوبدار (sūbadār), and its source, (Indian) Persian صوبهدار (sūbadār), corresponding to صوبه (sūba, “province”) + ـدار (-dār, “in ownership of, in charge of”).

suffix

noncommissioned officer
noncommissioned officer

(India, Pakistan, Nepal) A noncommissioned officer rank in the armies of India and Pakistan.


momo

From Tibetan མོག་མོག (mog mog), from Mandarin 饃饃／馍馍 (mómo).

zh-l

饃饃／馍馍 (mómo)

Since I come from the North-eastern part of India myself and belong to a minority race, I too have suffered from racism, at least in its milder forms. I’ve been called "chinky", "momo", "chowmein", and more.

2017 May 23, Alana Golmei, “Let’s talk about racism”, in Hindustan Times, Delhi:

Now, it is a well-known fact that many Northeast Indians are derogatorily called 'momos' after the dish by mainland Indians for their round-ish features.

2021 June 9, “Northeast Indians DISRESPECTED once again with 'momo' slur”, in India Today Northeast:

(India, slang, offensive) A person from Northeast India.


bibi

From Hindi बीबी (bībī), from Classical Persian بیبی (bī-bī).

The bibis of European men were treated in the same way as upper-class Muslim women, that is, they were kept hidden from view and did not mingle socially with men.

2010, Stephen Markel, Tushara Bindu Gude, India's Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, page 59:

(India, obsolete) A European woman in British India; sometimes a married man's mistress.


traga

(India, obsolete) A more extreme form of dharna, in which the complainant harms or kills himself or some member of his family as a form of vengeance.


scuppie

From the initial letters of socially conscious or saffron-clad, and yuppie.


rissaldar

From Hindi रिसालदार (risāldār), Persian رسالدار (resâldâr).

(India) A junior officer in a cavalry or armored regiment.


singara

From Bengali সিঙ্গাড়া (śiṅgaṛa). Doublet of singhara (“water caltrop”).


singara

(India) Alternative form of singhara (“water caltrop”)


bunjara

From Hindustani بنجارا / बंजारा (bañjārā), ultimately from Sanskrit वणिज्या (vaṇijyā, “trade”) + कार (kāra, “doer”).

Thirty years ago this ford was on the track of the bunjaras, and I have seen two thousand pack-bullocks cross in one night.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘At Twenty-two’, In Black and White, Folio Society, published 2005, page 410:

(India) A wandering grain and salt merchant in the Deccan Plateau.


burning-ghat

Now, whether I have done thee a wrong in keeping thee from the burning-ghât, do thou and the crows settle together.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘In Flood Time’, In Black and White, Folio Society, published 2005, page 415:

(India) A flat area near the top of a river ghat where Hindus burn their dead; a funeral pyre.


khud

We are only little bits of dirt on the hillsides—here one day and blown down the khud the next.

1909, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere. Part I.”, in Under the Deodars (The Works of Rudyard Kipling), Edinburgh de Luxe edition, Boston, Mass., London: The Edinburgh Society, →OCLC, page 8:

(India) A steep cleft in a hillside; a ravine.


chunam

en-noun

chunam (usually uncountable, plural chunams)

From Tamil சுண்ணம் (cuṇṇam, “lime, ground mortar”), from Sanskrit चूर्ण (cūrṇa, “powder; lime”).

der

The one Mr Cleveland and I inhabited was, as I have already observed, constructed of mud instead of chunam.

1808–1810, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 226

In all the operations of chunam work, jaggery water, i. e. a solution of molasses or coarse sugar, is invariably added by the builders, and its use appears to have prevailed from the remotest ages.

1834, Rám Ráz, Essay on the Architecture of the Hindús, London: […] [F]or the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland; by John William Parker, […], →OCLC, page 64:

The floor of the room was of polished chunam, white as curds.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, “On the City Wall”, in In Black and White (A. H. Wheeler & Co.’s Indian Railway Library; no. 3), 5th edition, Allahabad: Messrs. A. H. Wheeler & Co.; London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, Ld., […], published 1890, →OCLC:

Look at the flies. Look at the chunam coming off the walls.

1924 June 4, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, A Passage to India, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC:

If the slope has to be covered by shotcrete or chunam, tree rings of sufficient size should be provided to allow adequate supply of air and water to reach the tree roots.

2009, Buildings Department, Improvement of Visual Appearance and Landscape Treatment for Man-made Slopes and Retaining Walls

(India, Hong Kong) A type of plaster made from lime and sand, used for indoor finishing and slope protection.


kala juggah

Your salon would suit their views admirably, if you respected the religious prejudices of the country and provided plenty of kala juggahs.

1909, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere. Part I.”, in Under the Deodars (The Works of Rudyard Kipling), Edinburgh de Luxe edition, Boston, Mass., London: The Edinburgh Society, →OCLC, page 10:

The magic of those minutes in the kala juggah, when she had sat with her little hand in his, came back to him. He made up his mind to see a lot more of Sheilagh when he got back.

2014, John Gerrard Hennessy, Ann Hennessy, Solfatara: A Story of the British Indian Frontier, page 23:

(India, historical) A "dark corner" or out-of-the-way area in a bar, dance-hall, etc., used for flirtation.


burra-khana

From Hindi बड़ा खाना (baṛā khānā, “big dinner”), from बड़ा (baṛā, “big”) + खाना (khānā, “food, dinner”).

bor

I found him, lonely and unbefriended, the very next night after our talk, at the Dugald Delane's burra-khana.

1909, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere. Part II.”, in Under the Deodars (The Works of Rudyard Kipling), Edinburgh de Luxe edition, Boston, Mass., London: The Edinburgh Society, →OCLC, page 18:

‘Wasn't a man in town who could put on a burra-khana like he did.’

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 47:


durwan

From Hindustani دروان (drvān) / दरवान (darvān), from Classical Persian دروان (darwān), from دربان (darbān, “doorkeeper”), from در (dar, “door”) + ـبان (-bān, “keeper, guardian”).

Old Mattu, the Hindu durwan who looked after the European church, was standing in the sunlight below the veranda.

1934, George Orwell, chapter 3, in Burmese Days:

Outside my retreat, our house was full of relatives and other people. […] Mukundalal the durwan is outside rolling on the ground with the one-eyed wrestler, trying out a new wrestling fall.

1940, Rabindranath Tagore, “My Boyhood Days”, in Amiya Chakravarty, editor, A Tagore Reader, Boston: Beacon Press, published 1966, page 94:

(India) A live-in doorkeeper, especially in an apartment building.


papri

Hindi पापड़ी (pāpṛī)

(India) A crisp fried dough wafer made from refined white flour and oil, eaten in India.


dak bungalow

From Hindi डाक बंगला (ḍāk baṅglā) under influence from Gujarati ડાકબંગલો (ḍākbaṅglo).

der

Hindi डाक बंगला (ḍāk baṅglā)

Care was taken not to interfere with Europeans, for the twofold reason, that they seldom carried about with them anything more valuable than their firearms, and that they would certainly be missed, and close inquiries instituted to account for their disappearance. Besides, there was little chance of persuading a European to accept their company, or to rest anywhere save in his own tent, or in a Dakh bungalow.

1875 December 25, "Some Bad Old Indian Customs", part II,, in Charles Dickens, Jr. (editor), All the Year Round, number 369, page 298

There is a good sarái or inn for native travellers, and a dák bangalow or resting-place for Europeans.

1878, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., "Badnur"

Seeing that a fair proportion of the tragedy of our lives out here acted itself in dâk-bungalows, I wondered that I had met no ghosts. A ghost that would voluntarily hang about a dâk-bungalow would have to be mad course; but so many men have died mad in dâk-bungalows, that there must be a fair percentage of lunatic ghosts.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, "My Own True Ghost Story", The Phantom 'Rickshaw and other Eerie Tales, page 34

The Dak Bungalow of Chandrapore was below the average, and certainly servantless.

1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 229:

The life of the Anglo-Indian officials is not all jam. In comfortless camps, in sweltering offices, in gloomy dakbungalows smelling of dust and earth-oil, they earn, perhaps, the right to be a little disagreeable.

1934, George Orwell, chapter 2, in Burmese Days:

On the veranda of a Dak bungalow two men attired in khaki shirts and sweaters, sat smoking.

1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XIV, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 147:

(India, historical) A posthouse of the old Indian postal service (dak), used as lodging by itinerant British officials and other travellers and as a make-shift courthouse in rural areas.


huzoor

"What are you using to thread the flowers?" I asked curiously.
"A woman's hair, Huzoor. It is always the hair of a woman who has died, but whose child has lived, that is used for Mai Âtma's crown. Shall I tell the story, Huzoor?"
"Was she beautiful?" I asked irrelevantly, why I know not.
"I do not know, Huzoor," he replied. "Am I not blind?"

1903, Flora Annie Steel, In the Guardianship of God, Read Books, published 2019, unnumbered page:

‘Here is my card. Call me a tonga.’
‘Huzoor, all are at the Club.’

1924, E. M. Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 15:

Muzaffar's instinctive rising to his feet to greet the man seemed to discomfit the man even more. ‘Huzoor,’ he said, with a gulp, ‘I beg you - do not inconvenience yourself -’ and, for no reason that Muzaffar could see, he flushed a dull scarlet. ‘I took the liberty of asking the chowkidar for the huzoor’s address,’ he explained, even though Muzaffar had not asked.

2015, Madhulika Liddle, Crimson City, Hachette, unnumbered page:

(dated, India) A potentate; often used as a term of respect.


mallee

[H]ence the slow progress hitherto made in the cultivation of such produce of the garden as is generally held in estimation by the European portion of the community, left as it generally is, to the simple Hindoo mallee (or gardener,) it is not to be wondered at, that our bazars want what are deemed the more delicate articles of vegetable production for the table; […]

1840, G. T. Frederic Speede, Indian Hand-book of Gardening; Containing Directions for the Management of the Kitchen and Flower Garden, etc. etc. in India: […], Calcutta: W. Thacker & Co. St. Andrew’s Library, →OCLC, page 1:

Prizes were awarded to ten other mallees for best samples of vegetables, fruits and flowers, and last though not least we have to note, that a prize of two rupees was awarded to the mallee of Robert Fulton, Esq., of Sultangunge, for a remarkably fine bunch of grapes, clearly showing that either the soil of Mr. Fulton's garden, the climate of Sultangunge, or the skill of that gentleman's gardener, are highly favorable to the growth, and bringing to maturity of this delicious fruit.

1848, “Report of Exhibitions of Vegetables, Fruits, Flowers and Agricultural Produce, Held at Bhaugulpore, on 11th February and 25th May, 1848. (Communicated by Major [T. E. A.] Napleton, Honorary Secretary Branch Agri-Horticultural Society.)”, in Journal of the Agricultural & Horticultural Society of India, volumes VI, part II (Correspondence and Selections), number 3, Calcutta: Bishop's College Press, →OCLC, page 125:

Telegram from Collector of Sylhet to Secretary Colonel Burne, No. 221; dated the 29th November 1871. Every necessary precaution taken to arrest spread of cholera: three camps formed, one for those attacked, one for the convalescents, one for the healthy. I sent down dhobies, sweepers, cooks, and mallees, last to dig trenches for burying the dead, when burning was not possible.

1871 November 29, “Cachar: Further Correspondence on the Subject of the Looshai Raids and the Consequent Hostilities (in Continuation of Paper, No. 398, of 1871)”, in Accounts and Papers: […], volumes X (East India—continued), [London]: […] The House of Commons, […], published 28 May 1872, →OCLC, page 301:

(India, South Asia) Alternative spelling of mali (“a member of a caste in South Asia whose traditional occupation is gardening; hence, any South Asian gardener”).


raajmahal

/ˈrɑːd͡ʒməhəl/

From Hindi राजमहल (rājamhal), from राजा (rājā, “king”) + महल (mahal, “palace”).


sirji

(India) sir (as a respectful term of address)


Tinseltown

Bollywood is also very commonly known as both tinsel town and B-town, neither of which is listed in the dictionaries.

2012, James Lambert, “Beyond Hobson-Jobson: A new lexicography for Indian English”, in World Englishes, page 302:

(India, slang) The Bollywood movie industry.

(India, slang) The Tollywood movie industry

(India, informal, by restriction) A nickname for Film Nagar.; A neighbourhood of Hyderabad, Telangana, India


TCS

Tata Consultancy Services
w:Tata Consultancy Services

(India) Initialism of Tata Consultancy Services.


debond

en-verb

debond (third-person singular simple present debonds, present participle debonding, simple past and past participle debonded)

debonds (present singular third-person)
debonding (participle present)
debonded (participle past)
debonded (past)

The Company shall give three months' prior notice to the Customs Collector in case they decide to debond the shipyard.

1962, India Central Board of Revenue, Indian Sea Customs Manual, page 301:


LPA

en-noun

LPA (countable and uncountable, plural LPAs)

(uncountable, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) Initialism of lakhs per annum.


co-brother

co-brother (plural co-brothers or co-brethren)

co-brothers (plural)
co-brethren (plural)

If your wife doesn't have a sister, you just can't have a co-brother.

2007, Sethi, A Handbook Of Standard English And Indian Usage: Vocabulary And Grammar, page 55:


cartable

en-adj

cartable (comparative more cartable, superlative most cartable)

more cartable (comparative)
most cartable (superlative)

a cartable road

(chiefly India) Able to be traveled by cart.


chula

From Hindi चूल्हा (cūlhā), Bengali চুলা (cula).

After conducting feed back surveys, it was established that success will not depend on maximum number of chulhas installed but also on after installation care and follow up measures to ensure that skill transfer in installation and operation of chulhas has appropriately taken place and any other difficulty and problem has been overcome.

1996, Rahul Mudgal, Economic Dimensions of Rural Development, page 228:

When the basket was full, she carried it back and emptied it next to the outdoor chula where she did most of her cooking.

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin 2015, page 6:

Saroj was crouched over her small choolah, flattening dough between her palms, stretching it with her fingers, before slapping it onto the hot tawa to make chapattis.

2023, Radhika Iyengar, Fire on the Ganges, Fourth Estate, page 68:

(Bangladesh, India) A hearth, stove, or other traditional cooking-place.


chatta

From Hindi छाता (chātā), from Sanskrit छत्त्र (chattra, “umbrella, parasol, chatra”). Doublet of chador and chatra.

der

His air, while sitting on a tiger's skin, under his chatta or umbrella, was perfectly majestic.

1843, Charles James C. Davidson, Diary of Travels and Adventures in Upper India:

The dome was crowned by a pedestal 4½ feet square, which supported a chatta about 3½ feet in diameter.

1854, Alexander Cunningham, The Bhilsa topes, or, Buddhist monuments of central India:

(India) Synonym of umbrella or parasol, particularly an Indian parasol.


kajari

(India) A Hindustani classical music genre of folk songs and dance.


NCT

National Capital Territory
National Capital Territory#English

(India) Initialism of National Capital Territory.


pataka

Borrowed from Hindi पटाका (paṭākā), पटाखा (paṭākhā).

(India) A firecracker; a small paper packet of coloured potash and pieces of kankar, exploding when thrown against a hard surface.


paceman

The flair for bright batting went against them as they fell easy prey to the Aussie pacemen.

1976, The Statesman, volume 22, page 47:

In the series he bowled 222.5 overs, a considerable number considering Test teams in 1948 could call upon a new ball every 55 overs and Australia had pacemen to burn in Lindwall, Miller, Johnston and Toshack.

2001, Ashley Mallett, Eleven: The Greatest Eleven of the 20th Century, page 100:

Instead he went trout fishing on the Kiewa River in country Victoria, but not before leaving instructions to his pacemen to attack Bradman at every opportunity. Larwood took this to mean plenty of short stuff at the rib cage and head with five men in close catching positions.

2006, Roland Perry, The Ashes: A Celebration, page 136:

VICTORIA captain Cameron White and paceman Ben Hilfenhaus will return to the Australian team for the one-day international against South Africa tomorrow.

2009 January 25, “Cameron White and Ben Hilfenhaus return for Australia”, in Herald Sun:

2008 February 4, Anil Kumble, ‘You need to keep talking’, Outlook, page 45,
Fourteen Australian wickets fell to our pacemen, indicating that they were sticking to the plan.

2009 October, Pratiyogita Darpan, page 763,
South African paceman Andre Nel on March 25, 2009 announced his retirement from international cricket after an eight year career during which he took more than 100 wickets in both forms of the game.

(cricket, Australia, India) A fast bowler; one who specialises in bowling fast.


chaddi

(India) Underwear, shorts, especially knickers.


pial

(India) A raised platform on which people sit, usually under the veranda, or on either side of the door of a house.


MRF

Madras Rubber Factory
w:Madras Rubber Factory

(India) Initialism of Madras Rubber Factory.


mahurat

From Hindi [Term?], from Sanskrit [Term?].

‘The mahurat, Your Highness, is at nine seventeen in the morning.’

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 265:

(India, Hinduism) A time or moment considered lucky for beginning some project; an inauguration, now especially the start of a film production.


maistry

Borrowed from Hindi मिस्त्री (mistrī), from Portuguese mestre.

Anstruther laughed good-naturedly. “Well, yes, of a kind. I shall take out half a dozen intelligent maistries from our Press and get them to give our villagers instruction when they begin work and when they are in the fields.”

1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 5, in Pulling the Strings:

(obsolete, India) Any artisan, such as a cook or a tailor.


Malabar

From Arabic مَلَبَار (malabār), first attested in the writings of Iranian scholar Al-Biruni (c. 11th century). The second element is Arabic بَرّ (barr, “land, ground”) or Persian بار (bâr, “coast”), and the first element is the same as the Byzantine Greek toponym Μαλέ (Malé), mentioned by traveller Cosmas Indicopleustes in the 5th century as a source of pepper exports, concording with modern-day pepper cultivation on the Malabar coast.
Mala ~ Male is, in turn, borrowed from Malayalam മല (mala, “mountain”). This is also the source of the name of the language: മലയാളം (malayāḷaṁ, literally “mountain place”). Compare Zanzibar for a possibly similar word formation.

(India, chiefly historical) The region of coastal southwestern India, principally the modern state of Kerala.

(India, historical) A district of British India.


roza

From Hindi रौज़ा (rauzā, “garden; mausoleum”)/Urdu روضہ (rauza), from Classical Persian روضه (rawza), from Arabic روضة (rawḍa, “garden; meadow”).

bor

(India, historical) A garden, especially one at a mausoleum.


mamoty

Alteration of Tamil மண்வெட்டி (maṇveṭṭi).

der

Tamil மண்வெட்டி (maṇveṭṭi)

(India, Sri Lanka) A kind of hoe used for digging, especially for coffee planting.


teleshopping

téléshopping

shopping from home in response to offers on television advertising or shopping channels

(chiefly UK, India) Shopping from home in response to offers on television advertising or shopping channels.

(by extension, uncommon) Shopping in response to offers either on television or online.


khanda

Borrowed from Punjabi ਖੰਡਾ (khaṇḍā), from Sanskrit खड्ग (khaḍga).

(India) A double-edged sword from India, used ceremonially in Sikhism.

(India) A religious symbol of Sikhism, ⟨☬⟩, having the shape of three swords: a khanda, a chakram and two kirpans.


mangelin

The chief weight of Diamonds, is the Mangelin; it weighs five Grains and three fifths, and the Carat weighs only four grains, and five Mangelins make seven Carats.

1687, Jean de Thévenot, Archibald Lovell, The Travels Of Monsieur De Thevenot Into The Levant, volume 3, page 98:

(India, obsolete or historical) A weight used to weigh precious stones, weighing more than a carat, usually 1¾ carats.


mardana

Borrowed from Hindi मर्दाना (mardānā) / Urdu مردانہ (mardāna), from Persian مردانه (mardâne).

(India, Islam) A part of a train reserved for men.


gherao

From Hindi घेराव (gherāv, “encirclement”).

They had done a gherao and trapped the manager in his office for a whole day.

2002, Bharti Kirchner, Darjeeling, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 26:

This was an invitation to strike: according to one estimate, there were more than 1,200 gheraos in the first six months of the first UF-LF government.

2007, Ramachandra Guha, India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 425:

They led us in a mob to the administrative office of the Patna University, blockaded the main entrance and besieged the vice chancellor's office in a gherao […]

2011, Arun Sinha, Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar, Viking, →ISBN, page 40:

(India) A protest in which a group of people surrounds a politician, building, etc. until demands are met.


gherao

en-verb

gherao (third-person singular simple present gheraos, present participle gheraoing, simple past and past participle gheraoed)

gheraos (present singular third-person)
gheraoing (participle present)
gheraoed (participle past)
gheraoed (past)

One day the city magistrate asked the army for help to curb a protest march by women Congress workers who had threatened to gherao the officials in the divisional office.

1996, Kavery Nambisan, The Scent of Pepper, Penguin, published 2010, →ISBN, page 215:

In reply, the cultivators, apparently now protesting under the banner of the BKU gheraoed the power station.

2006, Shakuntala Devi, Employment of Labour and Rural Development, Sarup & Sons, →ISBN, page 53:

Further incensed by the findings of two Citizen's Inquiry Committees that he had set up to probe the earlier police firings in Gaya and Patna, JP now announced a programme that involved picketing the Assembly, gheraoing the residences of MLAs, […]

2010, B. G. Verghese, First Draft: Witness to the Making of Modern India, Tranquebar Press, →ISBN:

(India, transitive) To surround for this purpose.


paul

(India, historical) A small tent of various kinds.


princely state

a political state, in the widest sense, which is ruled as or like a principality in the generic sense, regardless of the ruler's actual title and rank.

(more specifically, historical, India, Pakistan) a vassal state under the indirect rule of the British Raj, which is governed by an Indian ruler


unoften

en-adv

unoften (comparative more unoften, superlative most unoften)

more unoften (comparative)
most unoften (superlative)

PIE word
 *upó
From un- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + often.

[B]evvare of Paſſion, as the moſt Capital enemy to the Crovvn and Empire of Reaſon: for thoſe Sons of Thunder […] if vve mark the Cataſtrophe of their turbulent lives vve ſhall find them concluded in a tempeſt, and not unoften like the Phœnix expire in a funerall pile themeſelves had kindled.

1657, [William Sprigg], “An Appendix of Brief Advice to Students”, in Philosophicall Essayes with Brief Adviso’s. […], London: […] J[ohn] S[treater] for Robert Blaggrave, […], →OCLC, section 13 (Passion), page 80:

In ſummer, it removes to ſome diſtance from the houſes, alvvays chooſing the lovver countries about the mills and ſtreams, hiding itſelf among the buſhes, in order to catch the birds, and not unoften taking up its habitation in the hollovv of an old vvillovv, vvhere the female may vvith greater convenience bring forth her young.

1775, Count de Buffon [i.e., Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon], “The Weasel”, in W[illiam] Kenrick, J[ohn] Murdoch, transl., The Natural History of Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals; with the Theory of the Earth in General. […], volume II, London: […] T. Bell, […], →OCLC, page 217:

[T]he patricians of Rome were not unaccustomed to the rude fellowship of these brawls; nor was it unoften that the mere presence of a noble sufficed to scatter whole crowds, that had, the moment before, been breathing vengeance against his order and his house.

1835, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Brawl”, in Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes. […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I (The Time, the Place, and the Men), page 38:

Of deep concern for us has been the question of machinery for the implementation of land reforms. The present administrative set-up for the purpose, comprising as it does low revenue officials who not unoften belong to the upper crust of our rural society and are interested in non-implementation of land reform measures, has proved very unsatisfactory indeed.

1964 May, K. D. Malaviya [i.e., Keshav Dev Malviya], “Agricultural-Industrial Reorganisation”, in Amarnath Vidyalankar, editor, Congress Forum: Journal of the Congress Forum for Socialist Action, volume II, number 3, New Delhi: Congress Forum for Socialist Action, →OCLC, section III (The Agricultural Sector), page 18:

Sometimes, the quarantine measures are so strict and affect such a large number of products that they upset the economic development of a place by prohibiting the exports of such products. It is natural on the part of the representatives of these areas to put up, not unoften, fight against the promulgated laws. The validity of some laws has been questioned, not unoften, by entomologists also[…].

1974, V[ladimir] V[ladimirovich] Yakhontov, “Economic Importance”, in Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre, transl., The Alfalfa Weevil or Phytonomus […] (TT 70-57232), New Delhi: Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre for the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Science Foundation, →OCLC, page 3:

Not unoften do rural women work at the spinning wheel.

2004, Parmanand Parashar, “The Folklore and Songs”, in Kashmir: The Paradise of Asia, New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, →ISBN, page 330:

(literary except India) Not often; rarely, seldom.


keema

en-noun

keema (countable and uncountable, plural keemas)

From Hindi क़ीमा (qīmā), Punjabi ਕ਼ੀਮਾ (qīmā), or Urdu قیمہ, all from Persian قیمه (qime), from Turkic, perhaps Ottoman Turkish قیمه (kıyma), whence Turkish kıyma. Doublet of gheimeh, an Iranian meat stew.

(India) A traditional minced-meat dish of the Indian subcontinent, typically minced lamb curry with peas or potatoes and spices, sometimes used as a filling in samosas or naan.


bangy

The men, to the number of 800, march in single file, and each man occupies a space of six feet, being obliged to carry a bangy containing his provisions, cooking pots, &c. besides his musket, which is tied to the bangy stick.

1837, Asiatic Society of Bengal, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, page 267:

(India) A type of yoke carried on the shoulders, as a means for people to carry a load.

(India, historical) A kind of parcel post originally carried by this means.


matranee

(obsolete, India) A female house-servant.


abir

(India) An aromatic red powder that is used during the Holi festival.


hatty

[…] the credit of it, if any there be, must be given to old Purdey, the maker of your rifle; for never do I think that grooved bore threw lead so true, and I now do not wonder at your luck in bringing down the hatties (elephants) right and left.

1860, Henry Astbury Leveson, The Hunting Grounds of the Old World, page 245:

Several herds of wild buffaloes were met on our way , but as our hatties, as well as the drivers, were too done up, we allowed them to pass unmolested.

1870, The Oriental Sporting Magazine, volume 3, page 1197:

(India, obsolete) Alternative form of hathi (“an elephant”)


maulana

Ultimately from Arabic مَوْلَانَا (mawlānā).
The Indian slang usage of the term for any Muslim person was derived from a stereotype, especially towards Muslims who look stereotypical (beard, robes, and skullcap).

(India, Islam, Internet slang, religious slur) A Muslim person in general, especially an extreme conservative.


Eve baiting

Despite the Biblical version, different recollections of the Adam and Eve story (including paintings) show Adam tempting Eve.

(India, Middle East) The harassment of women, especially foreign, or dressed as such, by groups of men.


co-sister

From co- + sister. The second meaning was influenced by a Dravidian substrate.

During this time I came to know about tubectomy from my co-sister and also from the female health worker. This time both my husband and father-in-law refused [me the surgery] on the ground that I was the eldest daughter-in-law and a responsible person for the whole family.

1989, Abusaleh Shariff, Fertility transition in rural South India, page 263:


dehire

en-verb

dehire (third-person singular simple present dehires, present participle dehiring, simple past and past participle dehired)

dehires (present singular third-person)
dehiring (participle present)
dehired (participle past)
dehired (past)

(transitive, UK, India) To terminate use under a lease of.


sabha

(India) a public meeting, assembly, or organized group


sabzi

en-noun

sabzi (countable and uncountable, plural sabzis)

From Hindi सब्ज़ी (sabzī), from Classical Persian سبزی (sabzī).

(India) The larger leaves and the seed capsules of Indian hemp which are used to make bhang.


jagir

From Urdu جاگیر (jāgīr), from Classical Persian جاگیر (jāgīr, “jagir”), from جا (jā, “place”) + گیر (gīr), the present stem of گرفتن (giriftan, “to take”).

der

(East India) An assignment of the produce and income of a particular district or village to a person or persons, as an annuity


jingal

/ˈd͡ʒɪnɡɔːl/

Borrowed from Hindi [script needed] (janjal).

bor+

(India) A type of gun, usually a light piece mounted on a swivel, sometimes taking the form of a heavy musket fired from a rest.


kalonji

From Hindi कलौंजी (kalauñjī) or कलोंजी (kaloñjī), Urdu کلونجی (kaloñjī).Which is ultimately derived from Tamil Karuñcīrakam(கருஞ்சீரகம்), black cumin.

Nigella sativa
Nigella sativa#Translingual

(India) The seeds of the plant Nigella sativa used as a spice.


gobi

Borrowed from Hindi गोभी (gobhī), from Portuguese couve (“cabbage”), from Latin caulis. Doublet of caulis, cole, and kale.


classwise

(chiefly India) In terms of class (category, social class, school group, etc.).


airdash

en-verb

airdash (third-person singular simple present airdashes, present participle airdashing, simple past and past participle airdashed)

airdashes (present singular third-person)
airdashing (participle present)
airdashed (participle past)
airdashed (past)

(India) To travel hastily by aircraft; to fly.


airdash

Relief work following Monday's gas leak tragedy picked up on Tuesday, the day of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's ninety-minute airdash to the State capital for an assessment of the magnitude of the disaster.

1986, Anees Chishti, Dateline Bhopal: A Newsman's Diary of the Gas Disaster, Concept Publishing Company:


Bhangi

From Hindi भंगी (bhaṅgī, “user of bhang”), from भांग (bhāṅg, “hemp”).

(India) A member of the Bhangi caste, traditionally restricted to cleaning latrines and handling dead bodies


sowarree

From Urdu سوار (savār, “swordsman”), borrowed from Persian سوار (savâr, “rider”), from Old Persian 𐎠𐎿𐎲𐎠𐎼 (a-s-b-a-r /asabāra-/, “horseman”), from Proto-Iranian *Hacwabāráh, ultimately from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Haćwabʰāras.

der

The Rajah's sowarree was very grand and superb. He had twenty elephants with richly embroidered ambarrehs, the whole of them mounted by his Sirdars,—he himself riding on the largest, just in the centre.

1851, James Baillie Fraser, Military Memoir of Lieut-Col. James Skinner, C. B.:

(dated, India) A mounted procession; a cavalcade.


bhindi

en-noun

bhindi (countable and uncountable, plural bhindis)

Borrowed from Hindi भिंडी (bhiṇḍī, “okra”), a feminine form of Sanskrit भिण्डा (bhiṇḍā).

(India) Synonym of okra: the plant or its edible capsules.


undertrial

(India, law) One who is currently on trial or who is imprisoned on remand whilst awaiting trial.


under-trial

(India, law) Alternative spelling of undertrial


IEA

Indian Evidence Act
w:Indian Evidence Act

(India) Initialism of Indian Evidence Act, the former evidence act of India.


roko

Shortened from Hindi रास्ता रोको (rāstā roko, literally “obstruct the road”).

der

(India) A type of protest in which transport is disrupted.


preponement

(India) The act of preponing; rescheduling for an earlier time.


feku

Borrowed from Hindi फेंकू (phẽkū), from फेंकना (phẽknā, “to throw”).

(India, neologism, offensive) A person who keeps bluffing or does empty boasting


pettah

Borrowed from Tamil பேட்டை (pēṭṭai, “estate”).

We had not hitherto seen the face of the enemy, but now the walls of both the Pettah —native town— and fort were lined with men whose arms glittered in the sun

1830, James Welsh, Military Reminiscences, 2nd edition, volume 1:

(in Sri Lanka and southern India) A town, sometimes fortified, outside a fort.


jawab

Borrowed from Hindustani جَوَاب (javāb) / जवाब (javāb), from Classical Persian جَوَاب (jawāb), from Arabic جَوَاب (jawāb).

(India, historical) An answer, especially a dismissal, or a woman's rejection of a marriage proposal.

Flanking the mausoleum […] are two symmetrically identical buildings — the mosque, which faces east, and its jawab, which faces west and provides aesthetic balance.

2010, Kenneth Pletcher, The Geography of India: Sacred and Historic Places, page 96:

(India) Anything erected or planted as a symmetrical double.


serang

From Persian سرهنگ (sarhang, “commander”).

The discovery that the substance in his mouth was of vegetable origin came as no great reassurance to Zachary: once, when the serang spat a stream of blood-red juice over the rail, he noticed the water below coming alive with the thrashing of shark's fins.

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 14:

The serang or his deputy could serve as a rebel leader or as a point of protest; there were even times when isolated Europeans joined the rebel cause.

2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 161:

(India, now historical) A native Indian boatswain; a lascar captain.


dacoity

en-noun

dacoity (countable and uncountable, plural dacoities)

'He came here open-minded to commit a dacoity. Yes, to cut, rob, kill, and carry off what he desired.'

1901, Rudyard Kipling, chapter 15, in Kim:

[…] he had a most interesting anecdote to tell her […] about a dacoity that had happened in Sagaing in 1913.

1934, George Orwell, chapter 18, in Burmese Days:

(chiefly India, Pakistan, Myanmar) Violent robbery carried out by a dacoit or a gang of dacoits.


daftar

From Hindi [Term?], from Arabic دَفْتَر (daftar), from Ancient Greek διφθέρα (diphthéra).

(India, historical) A record or register consisting of a set of loose sheets filed on a string or tied up in a cloth.


chacha

"Mama!" shouted Papi running forward, dragging Kaku along with him. Well, you can just imagine the happy scene! […] Looking across the courtyard he caught his chacha's eyes and they smiled and twinkled at him in secret understanding.

She also admires her chachas—Sajjan's engineering bent of mind, Ratan's financial acumen and Naveen's abilities as a great communicator.

2011, Sonia Golani, Corporate Divas, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

(India) An uncle, especially one's father's younger brother.


BRN

(India) Initialism of business registration number.


MRT

MRT (countable and uncountable, plural MRTs)

mass rail transit
mass rail transit#English

(UK, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, India, transport, uncountable) A form of heavy-rail rapid-transit system that utilizes modern Electric Multiple Units to transport commuters between stations.

(UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, India, transport, uncountable) Initialism of mass rail transit.

mass rapid transit
mass rapid transit#English

(UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India, transport, uncountable) Initialism of mass rapid transit.

mass rail transport
mass rail transport#English

(UK, Singapore, Philippines, India, transport, uncountable) Initialism of mass rail transport.

mass rapid transport
mass rapid transport#English

(Singapore, Malaysia, India, Thailand, transport, uncountable) Initialism of mass rapid transport.

metro rail transport
metro rail transport#English

(India, Philippines, Singapore, transport, uncountable) Initialism of metro rail transport.

metro rapid transit
metro rapid transit#English

(UK, Singapore, India, transport, uncountable) Initialism of metro rapid transit.

metropolitan rapid transport
metropolitan rapid transport#English

(India, Thailand, South Korea, transport, uncountable) Initialism of metropolitan rapid transport.

metropolitan rapid transit
metropolitan rapid transit#English

(Thailand, India, South Korea, transport, uncountable) Initialism of metropolitan rapid transit.

metro rail transit
metro rail transit#English

(Philippines, India, transport, uncountable) Initialism of metro rail transit.

metropolitan rail transit
metropolitan rail transit#English

(Philippines, India, transport, uncountable) Initialism of metropolitan rail transit.

metro rapid transport
metro rapid transport#English

(UK, India, transport, uncountable) Initialism of metro rapid transport.

metropolitan rail transport
metropolitan rail transport#English

(India, transport, uncountable) Initialism of metropolitan rail transport.

After several years of study, the Government of Singapore in 1982 decided to implement a comprehensive mass rapid transit (MRT) system.

2000, Jian Zhao, J. Nicholar Shirlaw, Rajan Krishnan, Tunnels and Underground Structures, page 32:

The origins of the MRT are derived from a forecast by city planners in 1967 which stated the need for a rail based urban transportation system.

2008 September 25, Angela Albanese, bus570 fall 08: The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT):

Bukit Panjang residents will soon enjoy a shorter commuting time to town when Singapore’s latest MRT line, the Downtown Line 2 (DTL2), commences operations on Dec 27.

2015 December 11, Feily Sofian, Esther Hoon, The Edge Property: The impact of MRT on property prices:


hackery

Uncertain. Variously derived from corruption of hackney (“cheap carriage for hire”), from Hindi चक्र (cakra, “wheel”) under influence from -ery, and from Gujarati ચક્રો (cakro, “ox-cart, rickshaw”), the latter two both from Sanskrit चक्र (cakra, “wheel, disc, cycle”).

der

Hackeries and carriages, loaded and empty, 8 annas.

1864, The Regulations of the Bengal Code in Force in September 1862, page 1019:

(India) A 2-wheeled oxcart used for transporting freight.

(India, Sri Lanka) A 2-wheeled ox- or horsecart used for transporting people.


tatkal

From Hindi तत्काल (tatkāl, “on the spot”), from Sanskrit तत्कालीनं (tatkālīnaṃ, “for the present”), from तत् (tat, “that”) + कालीन (kālīna, “belonging to a particular time”).


sudder

From Arabic صَدْر (ṣadr, “chief, commander”).

the Sudder Courts

1862, Bombay (Presidency). Sadr Faujdārī ʻAdālat, Cases Disposed of by the Sudder Foujdaree Adawlut of Bombay
(see title)


sowar

From Hindi/Urdu सवार (savār)/سوار (savār), from Classical Persian سوار (sawār, “horseman”).

der

I have been laboring under the impression that, for soul-harrowing vocal effort, the wild-eyed sowars of Khorassan, as exemplified in my escort from Beerjand, were entitled to the worst execrations of a discriminating Ferenghi, but the Afghans can go them one better.

1887, Thomas Stevens, chapter XII, in Around the World on a Bicycle, Vol. II: From Teheran to Yokohama, London: Sampson Low […] :

Among the latter was Hope Grant, who had his horse shot under him in a charge, and was saved by the devotion of two men of his own regiment (the 9th Lancers) and a Mahomedan sowar of the 4th Irregular Cavalry.

1897, Frederick Sleigh Roberts, Forty-one years in India:

Hills was struck down badly wounded, and was on the point of being despatched by a sowar, when Major Tombs, hearing the noise, rushed out of his tent, and seeing the plight his subaltern was in, fired his revolver at thirty yards and killed the sowar.

1910, Charles John Griffiths, A Narrative Of The Siege Of Delhi:

(historical, India) A soldier on horseback, especially one during the British Raj.


kattar

en-adj

kattar (comparative more kattar, superlative most kattar)

more kattar (comparative)
most kattar (superlative)

From Hindi कट्टर (kaṭṭar, “strict, rigid”).

"And even the announcement of Delhi’s own Board of Education came with one of the avowed aims being making students “kattar deshbhakt” (staunch patriots)."

(India, religion, Hinduism) strict, rigid, fundamentalist, especially in terms of religious belief

sanghi

used towards traditionalist Hindus with nationalist views


nakabandi

en-noun

nakabandi (countable and uncountable, plural nakabandis)

From Hindi नाकाबन्दी (nākābandī) and Urdu ناکابندی (nākā-bandī, “blockade, roadblock”).

uder

(India, uncountable) A system of patrolling streets by use of checkpoints.


budnamed

This Devil thing will end in getting me budnamed, and you know I've lived on lemon-squashes and gone to bed at ten for weeks past.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, Plain Tales from the Hills:

My signaller retired hurt after being budnamed by yours, so we have no coherent news.

(India, nonce word) Given a bad reputation.


pagri

Borrowed from Hindustani पगड़ी (pagṛī) / پگڑی.

The poor labourer was at first somewhat astonished, and frightened by this sudden metamorphosis, but soon overcoming the new feeling, he carefully tied the ruby in his pagri or turban, and returned home […]

1913, Shaikh Chilli, "The Story of Hira and Lal" in Folk-tales of Hindustan, Bahadurganj, Calcutta: Abinash Chandra Sarkar, p. 98, https://archive.org/details/cu31924023979721

'People look at my pagri and you can kind of tell from the way they look and behave and from their body language. My pagri gives me away and I feel that people react strangely to it. Some people laugh at you because of your pagri. Others say, "You are wearing a nice hat," or something like that. Fellow students don't know a thing about the Sikh religion […].'

2005, Edith Samuel, Integrative Racism: South Asians in Canadian Academe, University of Toronto Press, page 89:

2016, "Sidhartha," "Takeover battle begins at 2 of Abhey Oswal's cos," The Times of India, Business, 8 April, 2016, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Takeover-battle-begins-at-2-of-Abhey-Oswals-cos/articleshow/51736234.cms
Pankaj claims to be the legal heir citing that he was made to wear the "pagri", which he saw as a sign that the Oswal family recognized him as the main heir to head the business.

(India) A headdress worn by men in India, comprising a several-metre-long band of fabric wound around the head.

I recognized the eldest Miss Copleigh, because she had a pagri round her helmet, and the younger had not.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, “False Dawn”, in Plain Tales from the Hills:

A pagri was a form of "illegal payment" that had developed to circumvent colonial rent restrictions. Landlords demanded a large lump-sum payment in lieu of the low monthly rent, and this also made it very difficult for refugees without means to rent houses in the city.

2010, Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali Zamindar, chapter 2, in The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories, New York: Columbia University Press, page 64:

Simply defined, it means a landlord letting a ‘tenant’ use his property – forever in most cases – after receiving a “pagri,” an amount that is a little less than the prevailing market price. In return, the tenant pays a nominal monthly rent and stays on the premises for years on end without any fear of eviction. The property remains in landlord’s name and he continues to pay taxes on it.

2012 January 7, Kazim Alam, “Paperless pagri system still exists in old city areas”, in The Express Tribune:

(India, Pakistan) A payment made to secure the long-term rental of a property.


bustee

There is a dreary bustee in the neighbourhood which is said to make the most of any cholera that may be going.

1891, Rudyard Kipling, The City Of Dreadful Night:


vyomanaut

From Sanskrit व्योमन् (vyoman, “sky, space”) + -naut. Coined by ISRO.

suffix

(rare, chiefly India) A person who travels in space for the Indian space program; an Indian astronaut.


s/o

(India, Singapore) Abbreviation of son of.


chummery

1966, Paul Scott, "The Jewel in the Crown" in The Raj Quartet, 1966-1975.
Close by, but only to be glimpsed through the gateway in a high stucco wall, similarly shaded, is the bungalow once known as the chummery where three of four of Mr White's unmarried sub-divisional officers - usually Indians of the uncovenanted provincial civil service - used to live when not on tour in their own allotted areas of the district.

(India, historical) The building in which unmarried British army officers were quartered during the British Raj.


dayee

1855, North-Western Provinces, India, Selections from the Records of Government, Volume 3, page 184,
The custom now actually and thoroughly established, and daily practised in these villages, is the following : — On the occasion of a birth in a Thakoor family, the village dayee is summoned, and after her services have been completed, she reports the occurrence to her relative, the bullahur ; he informs the chowkeedar, who causes the necessary entry to be made in the putwaree′s diary, and, if the birth be of a girl, reports the event to the thannah.


mukhtar

From North Levantine Arabic مختار (“village headman”), from substantive application of Arabic مُخْتَار (muḵtār, “chosen”), the passive participle of اِخْتَارَ (iḵtāra, “to elect, to choose”). Specific application with influence from various local languages including Ottoman Turkish مختار (muhtar, “village headman”) and Bengali মুখতার (mukhtar), Marathi मुख्तार (mukhtār), and Urdu مختار (muktār, “agent; lawyer”). Within Indian English, the application of mukhtar is influenced by a folk etymology derivation from Sanskrit मुक्ति (mukti, “liberation, becoming or setting free”). Doublet of myftar.

myftar

A minor official in various Arab and Turkish contexts

[W]e took leave, escorted to the gate by our two young friends, and thence by a nearer way through the ruins to our pinnace, by an elderly man, who said he was the Raja's "Muktar," or chamberlain, and whose obsequious courtesy, high reverence for his master's family, and numerous apologies for the unprepared state in which we had found "the court," reminded me of old Caleb Balderstone [from Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor (1819)].

1827 December, “Art. VII.—Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India, from Calcutta to Bombay, 1824–1825, […] by the late Right Rev. Reginald Heber, D.D. Lord Bishop of Calcutta.—London: John Murray, 1828. [book review]”, in The Quarterly Oriental Magazine, Review, and Register, volume VIII, number XVI, Calcutta, West Bengal: Thacker & Co. […], published 1828, →OCLC, page 197:

The Darogahs and other mofussil police officers are prohibited from employing any mokhtar or vakeel at the station of the zillah or city Magistrate, for the purpose of receiving and transmitting the salaries of the thannah establishment, or for any other purpose, connected with their public functions, except in particular cases, wherein they may be specially authorized by the Magistrate to employ a vakeel.

1850, “Section X. Prohibiting Various Irregular Practices on the Part of the Police.”, in John C[lark] Marshman, compiler, The Darogah’s Manual, Comprising also the Duties of Landholders in Connection with the Police, Serampore, West Bengal: Serampore Press, →OCLC, paragraph 100, page 28:

Very shortly after my arrival, the Rajah's Mooktar had waited on me, and requested that his master might be allowed to present himself, as he had much to say to me of great importance.

1850 May, “I. Recollections of an Official Visit to the Ramgurh District.”, in The Benares Magazine, volume III, number 5, Mirzapore, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh: […] [Orphan School Press] for the proprietors, and sold by Messrs. Thacker & Co., […], →OCLC, page 357:

The false rumours regarding the Santhals being in arms near Midnapore are said to have originated with some idle and mischievous Mooktars.

1855 October 2, “Bengal and Agra”, in The Indian News and Chronicle of Eastern Affairs, number 315, London: […] Richard Kinder [for] William Tweedie, →OCLC, page 443, column 2:

One mooktar or lawyer was sentenced by Mr. Betts, for the offence which was no offence at all, to six months' imprisonment and a fine of 200 rupees—the Act being alternative, and, in default of payment, to a further imprisonment of six months. […] Did not such a state of things as regards the ryots demand an expression of sympathy from the House?

1861 April 19, [Austen Henry] Layard, “Indigo Planting in Bengal. Question.”, in Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates, […] (House of Commons), volume CLXII, London: Cornelius Buck, […], →OCLC, column 809:

Sheikh Abed Hossein (Plaintiff) v. Lalla Ramsaran and Others (Defendants). […] The plaintiff in this case is a mukhtar of the Mozufferpore Zilla. […] Now in a case of this description where the plaintiff, who is a mukhtar of a Court, claims to be entitled to carry into specific performance an agreement alleged to have been entered into him and the defendants, which agreement savours of champerty, it is necessary that such a claim should be certain, fair, and just in all its parts.

1870 May 3, F. B. Kemp, judge of the High Court of Judicature at Fort William, “Chedambara Chetty (Plaintiff) v. Renja Krishna Muthu Vira Puchanja Naiker (Defendant). [On Appeal from the High Court of Judicature at Madras.]”, in The Bengal Law Reports of Decisions of the High Court at Fort William, […], volume XIII, Calcutta, West Bengal: […] Thacker, Spink and Co., →OCLC, footnote (2), page 516:

By section 11, Act XX, 1865, mukhtars may subject to the conditions of their certificates as to the class of Courts in which they are authorized to practice, appear and act in any Civil Court, and appear, plead and act in any Criminal Court within the same limits. They cannot plead in Civil Courts. Merely bringing a plaint to a vakil for his signature […] or standing behind a pleader and giving him information does not amount to an appearance as mukhtar in contravention of Act XX, 1865[…].

1883, J[ames] O’Kinealy, “Chapter III.—Of Parties and Their Appearances, Applications and Acts.”, in The Code of Civil Procedure: Act XIV of 1882. […], Calcutta, West Bengal: Brown & Co., […], →OCLC, part I (Of Suits in General), section 37, paragraph (b), page 68:

It was not sufficient that Thakur Parshad was the Mukhtar of the Court of Wards, and said he had authority to admit the plaintiff's right.

1896 May 9, Richard Couch, member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, “Rajah Muhammad Mumtaz Ali Khan, Plaintiff; and Sheorattangir and Another, Defendants. On Appeal from the Court of the Judicial Commissioner of Oudh.”, in Frederick Pollock, A. P. Stone, editors, The Law Reports. […] Indian Appeals: Being Cases in the Privy Council on Appeal from the East Indies, volume XXIII, London: Printed and published for the [Incorporated] Council of Law Reporting [for England and Wales] by William Clowes and Sons, […], →OCLC, page 82:

(India, historical) A person acting as an agent, particularly a lawyer.


kiladar

(India, historical) The governor of a fort or large town in medieval India.


zaildar

(India) A native officer in charge of a zail.


faujdar

From Hindi फ़ौजदार (faujdār)/Urdu فوجدار, from Persian فوجدار (fowj-dâr), compound of فوج (fowj, “troop”) (from Arabic فَوْج (fawj, “group”)) and ـدار (-dâr).

(India) An officer tasked with the administration of a sarkar.


zail

(India) An administrative unit of two to forty villages during the British Raj in India.


unhappening

en-adj

unhappening (comparative more unhappening, superlative most unhappening)

more unhappening (comparative)
most unhappening (superlative)

Next day, it was time for us to leave and believe me, the return journey was the most unhappening journey I had experienced in my entire life. […] The entire 45 minutes of the journey were devoted in looking towards my QUEEN, only to get a reaction.

2017, Grahadish Sharma, Love Does Cost Sometimes: A World of Platonic Love, page 67:

The next few months were dark and unhappening for Gautam.

2022, Kumar Kanhaiya, Gold Star, page 30:


garbages

In market areas the commercial people provides necessary incentives to the municipal sweepers to keep the area clean of garbages. The problem is the "disposal" of the garbage.

1980, Calcutta Municipal Gazette, volume 98, page 1787:

It is a common observation that garbages are scattered around the slums. The respondents complained that the municipal sweepers seldom bother to collect the accumulated garbages from around the slums.

1994, Najmir Nur Begum, Centre for Family Services, Low-income families of metropolitan Dhaka, page 98:


khoa

(India) A kind of concrete, of broken brick, lime, etc., used for floors and terrace roofs.


communalism

en-noun

communalism (countable and uncountable, plural communalisms)

(India) Stoking conflict or discrimination based on religious identity.


zigsaw puzzle

As for example, the young participants may be supplied with small wooden blocks or zigsaw puzzles to construct a particular scene displayed in the museum […]

1984, Dilip Kumar Ray, Museum and physically handicapped in India, Darbari Udjog, page 59:

Hinduism is a zigsaw puzzle in that it contains every philosophy and most religions and outlooks, practices and observances, innumerable gods one fighting the other.

1990, Ravindra Kumar, Problem of communalism in India:

BB Patnaik sat with a zigsaw puzzle of the map of India meant for the kindergarten. He had separated the states and put them in four piles.

(India) Alternative form of jigsaw puzzle


unreserve

unreserve (countable and uncountable, plural unreserves)

(countable, India) A forest that is not set aside as a reserve.


masoor

(India, cooking) Small orange-red lentils.


lathi

lathi (countable and uncountable, plural lathis)

The iron-bound bamboo staves, known as lâtees, with which most disputes among rival zemindars were traditionally settled.

1973, JG Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur:

A phalanx of policemen armed with lathis faced a mob of mill workers squatting on the road.

2004, Khushwant Singh, Burial at Sea, Penguin, published 2014, page 131:

Nearby, held back by a line of lathi-carrying peons, stood the farmers whose vessels were being weighed […].

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 94:

(India, countable) A heavy stick or club, usually used by policemen.


eveninger

Coordinate term: morninger

With Bombay's crammed newspaper market suddenly swamped by a deluge of vernacular eveningers, the city's presses are humming with activity.

While most morningers missed the news, Japan Times brought out an extra edition and eveningers across the region gave graphic coverage to the assassination and the rise and fall of the Nehru family.

1991, Meenakshi Ahluwalia, Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, page 43:


communitywise

(chiefly India) In terms of communities.


chaprasi

A servant in scarlet interrupted him; he was the chuprassy of the Civil Surgeon, and he handed Aziz a note.

1924, E. M. Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 13:

Two clerks who had witnessed the scene, and a chaprassi, were sent along to Mr Macgregor's office to corroborate the story. They lied in perfect unison.

1934, George Orwell, chapter 22, in Burmese Days:

Liveried chaprasis were bringing in wreaths to be placed on Mattoo's body, from the Governor General, Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, heads of industrial houses.

2004, Khushwant Singh, Burial at Sea, Penguin, published 2014, page 78:

(India) An official of some kind, especially an important attendant or messenger in the household of an Indian landowner.


adda

(Bangladesh, India) An informal meeting place for conversation.


shamiana

From Urdu شامیانہ (śāmiyānā), from Persian شامیانه (šâmiyâne, “(India) a marquee”).

bor

Urdu شامیانہ (śāmiyānā)

der

It was the rainy season and we had put up a big shamiana around the open-air pit to accommodate everyone.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 155:

At a time when free expression in India is under pressure from many directions […] the podiums and shamiana tents of the Jaipur festival have become pop-up shops for thinkers with contrarian positions.

2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 87:

(India) A large, ornate tent or pavilion; a marquee.


peda

en-noun

peda (countable and uncountable, plural pedas)

(India) A sweet made from khoa, sugar, and various flavourings.


opticals

So don your 'opticals' for these charming Indian-English terms still widely encountered and many now entering mainstream use: […]

2003, The Chemical Engineer, numbers 740-751, page 68:


dabbawalla

Borrowed from Marathi डबेवाला (ḍabevālā), Hindi डब्बावाला (ḍabbāvālā), literally "person with a box".

bor

Hindi डब्बावाला (ḍabbāvālā)

“There is a service called FedEx that is similar to ours — but they don’t deliver lunch,” said one dabbawalla, Dhondu Kondaji Chowdhury.

2007 May 29, Saritha Rai, “In India, Grandma Cooks, They Deliver”, in New York Times:

(India) A deliveryperson in Mumbai, India who collects freshly cooked food in lunchboxes from workers' residences (mostly in the suburbs), delivers it to their respective workplaces, and returns the empty containers.


adigar

From Sanskrit अधिकार (adhikāra, “one possessing authority”).

der

(India, historical) The head man of a rural village.


timepass

Why are you doing timepass with your friends? You should be studying!

(India) Aimless or unproductive activity; killing time.

Don't go see that movie; it's just timepass.

(India) An activity which is boring or not worthwhile; a waste of time.


sicca

From Hindustani سکہ (sikka) / सिक्का (sikkā), from Classical Persian سکه (sikka), from Arabic سِكَّة (sikka)

Letter to Bajeerao Pundit, stamped with the sicca.

1839 September 2, Charles Ovans, “Memorandum of Papers received from his Highness the Raja of Sattara”, in Papers Relating to the Commission of Inquiry Held at Sattara in October 1836, published 1843, page 99:

They are in a more formal shape, bearing at the top the “sicca,” or great seal of state, which is only used on grants, treaties, and other documents of similar importance; […]

1848 April 7, H. B. E. Frere, “Letter from H. B. E. Frere, Esquire, Resident at Sattara, to H. E. Goldsmid, Esquire […]”, in Papers Relating to the Question of the Disposal of the Sattara State in Consequence of the Death of the Late Raja, published 1849, page 30:

In the case of documents bearing the Sicca of the Raja, the seals of the ministers of the departments of the State concerned were added just below the Raja’s; […]

1883 November 16, O. Codrington, “On the Seals of the late Satara Kingdom”, in The Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, volume 16, number 42, page 127:


samaj

(India) A society; a congregation; a worshipping assembly, or church, especially of the Brahmo Samaj.


bildar

From Hindi बेलदार (beldār), from Persian بیلدار (literally “spade wielder”), from بیل (bil, “spade”) + ـدار (-dâr, “haver”).

(India, historical) A laborer who excavates or digs, often one employed by the Public Works Department of Upper India.


doab

Borrowed from Persian دوآب (do-âb) and Hindi दोआब (doāb), properly meaning "two waters".

the doab between the Ganges and the Yamuna

Known as the northern black polished (NBP), it first appears after 500 BC, rapidly supersedes the earlier styles (PGW, BRW) in Bihar and UP, an eventually extends across the Doab and deep into Panjab, east to Bengal and south to Maharashtra.

(India) A tongue or tract of land included between two rivers, especially that between the Ganges and the Yamuna


bangar

Coordinate term: khadir

(India) A less fertile alluvial soil located above flood level.


A.C.

AC

alternating current, anno Christi, ante Christum, army corps, athletic club

(India, historical) Initialism of after compliments: marking the omitted formalities of native compliments, in official versions of native letters.


exgratia

(chiefly India) Alternative form of ex gratia


Jaya

Borrowed from Sanskrit जय (jaya, literally “victory”).

bor+

(India) A female given name from Sanskrit.


imarti

A sudden concentration on food followed. Uncle said, have an imarti, they're hot and good.

1994, Manju Kak, First light in Colonelpura: short stories, page 33:

[…] fill a small basket of fresh, hot imartis.

1994, Rāhī Māsūma Razā, Gillian Wright, The feuding families of village Gangauli:

(India) An Indian dessert made by deep-frying urad flour batter in a kind of pretzel which is then soaked in sugar syrup.