ab se dur -- heaven forfend! (in women's dialect); long
ago (in standard Urdu)
acchi -- good; dear; term of endearment used by women.
adab -- respects; used as a greeting; also: moral conduct;
good manners; etiquette.
ag lago -- may you burn up (a curse in women's dialect).
'alim -- a learned man; a theologian (pl. 'ulama).
angarkha -- loose overshirt with a front yoke and side opening.
angithi -- charcoal brazier, used for cooking or heating in
the winter.
Anna -- wet nurse; nursemaid.
anna -- 1/16 of a rupee.
ap -- you, the second person plural pronoun, also used formally
for you, singular.
Apa -- elder sister.
arz karna -- to request; to say.
ashraf -- pl. of sharif -- noble; well-born; respectable;
civilized.
ashrafi -- gold coin; a sovereign.
badshahi or badshahat -- empire; kingdom; rule.
Baji -- big sister.
bakhtavari -- lucky (in women's dialect).
Bakr 'Id -- Muslim festival commemorating Ibrahim's sacrifice
of Isma'il; also called 'Id ul-Azha. Many Muslims sacrifice an animal
on this date.
bandagi -- at your service; used as a greeting and a form of
self-deprecation.
bandazada/bandazadi -- son/daughter of a slave (used in referring
to one's own child as a way to avoid self-importance).
bara (m); bari (f) -- big; large; old.
barakat -- abundance; prosperity; blessings; auspiciousness.
Bari Begam -- an older woman; mother or mother-in-law.
bazaar -- market place.
begam -- woman; wife; noblewoman.
begamati zuban -- women's language; the dialect of Urdu spoken
by women in pardah. Highly idiomatic, it varies from one place
to another and from one class of speakers to another.
beta -- son; beti , daughter.
bhaina -- little sister; term of endearment (in women's dialect).
bhar men ja'o -- go into the fire; go to hell (in women's dialect).
bhayya -- brother; term of endearment.
bismillah -- lit. "in the name of God"; also a ceremony
celebrated when a child is four years, four months, and four days old,
and commences his/her formal education. Bismillah karna
-- to begin, to commence.
bodli -- transvestite; whore (in women's dialect).
bu'a -- my dear; sister; term of endearment used by women.
burqa -- an all-enveloping garment which conceals the pardah-observing
woman when she has to venture out of her house.
chal dur -- get out of here; begone! (in women's dialect).
channa -- chick pea, a major source of vegetable protein.
chappati -- bread, the standard flat wheat cake.
chaqu or chaku -- knife.
chhain phuin -- God forbid! (in women's dialect).
chulha -- cooking stove.
chulhe me ja'o -- go into the stove; go to hell (in women's
dialect).
Dada -- paternal grandfather.
Dadi -- paternal grandmother.
dal -- lentils or pulses served as a thick sauce or soup, with
rice, a major source of vegetable protein.
dar gor -- into the grave; drop dead (in women's dialect).
darogha -- chief steward; major domo; manservant.
darwaza -- gateway (to a city); doorway (to a house); entryway.
daulat khana -- wealthy house, used when referring to someone
else's home.
diwan khana -- men's outer sitting room or reception room.
dom -- professional entertainer; musician.
domni -- professional female entertainer or exorcist who performs
only in the presence of women.
dur par -- heaven forfend! (in women's dialect).
faqir -- Muslim religious mendicant; holy man.
farmana -- to decree; to say.
fasli -- the Persian solar calendar, approximately 590 years
behind the AD dating system; also refers to the harvest season or the
revenue year.
fiqh -- Muslim jurisprudence. There are a number of schools
of fiqh: Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi'i among the Sunnis,
and Ithna'ashari and others among the Shias.
gharib khana -- poor house, used when referring to one's own
home in self-deprecating terms.
ghazal -- a lyric poem in the rhyme scheme AA, BA, CA, etc.
ghi -- clarified butter used as a cooking medium.
ghubar -- a delicate, miniature style of calligraphy.
gulshan -- a florid, ornamental style of calligraphy.
gur -- brown sugar.
hadith -- traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, one of the main
sources of Islamic belief and practice, also called Sunna.
hafiz -- one who knows the Quran by heart.
hajj -- the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca which takes place
in the month of Zil-Hijja in the Muslim calendar.
hakim -- practitioner of traditional Islamic medicine; a doctor.
halva'i -- sweet-meat seller.
haveli -- palace; palatial residence.
hazir -- present; hazir hona, to be present or ready.
hazrat -- honored one; your honour, a formal term of address.
hijra -- eunuch; female impersonator; transvestite entertainer.
hijri -- the Muslim lunar calendar, dating from the hegira
in 622 AD; a year according to the Muslim calendar.
'ilm -- knowledge; learning; science; religious learning.
irshad -- instruction or command; irshad karna -- to bid,
order, or command.
ism -- name (Arabic), used in expressions such as -- ism-e-mubarak,
your blessed name; ism-e-sami, your exalted name; ism-e-sharif,
your noble name, in referring to people one wishes to honor.
izafat -- in Persian grammar, the particle -e connecting
a noun to its modifier.
jagir -- grant of land, from which the holder (jagirdar)
collects rent.
Jan -- dear; a term of endearment and respect attached to the
names of relatives, as Baji Jan (big sister), Mamun Jan (uncle), Dadi
Jan (grandmother), Ammi Jan (mother), etc.
janihar -- deadly; worthy of death, a curse used by women.
jhulsa -- fiery; quarrelsome (in women's dialect).
kabab -- skewered roasted meat.
kabaddi -- a traditional Indian game played by two teams.
A line dividing the teams is drawn on the ground, and the player who
is "it" crosses the line shouting "kabaddi kabaddi"
and tries to tag one of the opposing players. If he succeeds and is
able to get back across the line, the tagged person is out. And so on,
alternatively, until one side is eliminated.
kabutar -- pigeon or dove.
karha'i -- a wok-like, round-bottomed pan.
khairat -- charity; alms.
khari boli -- the vernacular of the Delhi region; standard
Hindi or Urdu grammar.
khas -- aromatic grass, woven into curtains which are
hung in windows during the hot season for cooling purposes.
khas dan -- a small carrier for prepared pan (see
pan, below).
khwaja -- lord; master; respectable gentleman; a title
or part of a name implying descent from the Prophet -- a Sayyid.
kichri -- rice and dal cooked together.
kohl -- collyrium; an eye salve and cosmetic.
kornish -- salutation (Persian), used as a greeting.
kos -- league; a Mughal measurement of distance approximately
equal to two miles or slightly more than three kilometers.
lachar -- helpless; powerless; constrained; having no choice.
lakh -- 100,000.
madrasa -- a secondary, or higher, school for theological training.
mahr -- dower; the marriage portion settled upon a Muslim bride
before marriage.
majlis, pl. majalis -- assembly; convention; meeting.
maktab -- Quranic schools; primary school often held in a mosque.
Mamun -- maternal uncle.
marne joga -- worthy of death, a curse used by women.
Maulana -- a Muslim theologian; highly learned person.
maulvi -- a learned person; a schoolmaster or government servant.
maund -- a weight equivalent to about forty kilos or eighty
pounds.
Mirza -- prince; a title or part of a name implying relationship
to the Mughal dynasty.
mizaj -- health or condition.
mubarak -- blessings; blessed.
mughlani -- seamstress; maidservant.
muhalla -- neighbourhood; quarter of a city.
mulla -- a teacher or a learned man; a religious functionary.
murraghan -- oily, rich, or heavy food.
musha'ira -- a poetic gathering; a poetic recitation contest.
muva -- dead (in women's dialect).
nachar -- helpless; unable to do something one would like;
constrained.
Nana -- maternal grandfather.
Nani -- maternal grandmother.
naskh -- a style of calligraphy used for writing Arabic.
nasta'liq -- a style of calligraphy normally used for Urdu
and Persian.
nauj -- God forbid! (in women's dialect).
nawab -- prince; nobleman; big landlord; usually refers to
a Muslim.
nigora -- unfortunate; without support; poor (in women's dialect).
nikah -- Muslim marriage ceremony.
nikhattu -- worthless, useless (in women's dialect).
nun -- the letter n in the Arabic alphabet.
nuskha -- copy; model; example.
pan -- a digestive chew, consisting of betel nut, lime, tobacco
and flavorings, wrapped in a leaf. Used after meals or on ceremonial
and hospitable occasions.
pan dan -- a box or case, usually of metal, in which pan
leaves, betel nut, etc. for making pan are kept.
paratha -- a bread with ghi cooked into it in several
layers, rather like a short piecrust.
panka -- fan.
pardah -- lit. "curtain"; the seclusion of women; veiling.
patthar -- stone; rock.
phulka -- a slightly inflated chappati or wheat cake.
phul walon ki sair -- the annual flower festival in Mehrauli,
near Delhi.
Phuphi -- paternal aunt.
picchalpai -- demoness; witch.
pinda -- body (in women's dialect).
pula'o -- rice cooked with spices.
puri -- a deep-fried wheat cake or bread.
qa'ida -- primer; guide; as in Qa'ida-e-Baghdadi,
the first Arabic primer.
qari -- an expert in Quranic recitation.
qasba -- a large village or small town.
qazi -- judge; legal functionary who knows Muslim law.
raja -- king; nobleman; big landlord; usually refers to a Hindu.
Ramzan (or Ramadhan) -- the month of fasting in the
Muslim calendar.
rasna basna -- one who stays at home, fortunate (in women's
dialect).
roghni roti -- bread fried in or cooked with butter.
roti -- the generic term for bread; also food.
Sahib -- Sir or Mr.
sahibzada / sahibzadi -- son/daughter of a gentleman.
sahnak of Fatima -- a small vessel for making vows to the Prophet's
daughter Fatima; a women's ritual.
sair -- trip; tour.
sanad -- a contract or decree; a warrant.
sati -- the immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral
pyre.
Sayyid -- noble; lord; a title or part of a name implying descent
from the family of the Prophet Muhammad.
sarai -- hostelry for travelers, merchants, and their goods
and animals.
Shab-e Barat -- Muslim festival on the eve of 14 Sha'ban in
the lunar calendar. The night when men's deeds for the year to come
are determined by God.
shabash -- bravo! congratulations; well done.
Shaikh -- elder or chieftain; title or part of a name implying
descent from the companions of the Prophet; also used, by recent converts
to Islam.
sharafat -- nobility of birth or character.
sharif, pl. ashraf -- noble; well-born; cultured;
respectable.
shin -- the letter sh in the Arabic alphabet.
sidharna -- to get out, go away, or take leave (in women's
dialect).
sura -- one of the 114 chapters of the Quran.
tabi'dar -- tabi' (dependence) + dar (having).
One who is dependent on another; follower; servant.
tafsir -- Quranic exegesis, a branch of Islamic theological
learning.
takhallus -- pen name; nom de plume.
tashrif -- your honor; your worship, used in expressions such
as tashrif lana, to come; tashrif le jana, to go, tashrif
rakhna, to sit down, etc.
taslim -- obeisance, used as a greeting.
tu, tum -- you, the second person singular pronoun.
tughra -- a large, ornamental style of calligraphy used for
regal signatures and headings.
ujra -- ruined; declining; ill-fated.
'ulama -- Muslim theologians; learned men (pl. of 'alim).
ustad -- male tutor; teacher; schoolmaster.
ustani -- female tutor; governess.
vari -- my dear (used by women).
vatan -- native country (Arabic).
yad -- memory; yad karna, to remember.
yunani -- lit. "Greek"; the traditional system of Islamic medicine.
-zada, pl., -zade -- son of.
-zadi, pi. zadiyan -- daughter of.
zanana -- women's quarters; interior portion of the house where
only the women and closely related males may enter.
zuban -- language; tongue.