بہن

See also: پهن and تهن

Urdu

Alternative forms

• بَہْنا (bahnā), بَھینا (bhainā) — endearing

Etymology

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀪𑀇𑀡𑀺 (bhaïṇi), from Sanskrit भगिनी (bhaginī). Cognate with Punjabi بَھیْݨ (bhaiṇ).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /bə.ɦən/, /bə.ɦɪn/, [bɛ.ɦɛn]
• (Punjabic Urdu) IPA^(key): [bʱɛːn]
• Rhymes: -ɛn, -ɛːn
• Hyphenation: بَ‧ہَن

Noun

بَہَن or بَہِن • (bahan or bahin) f (masculine بھائی (bhāī), Hindi spelling बहन or बहिन)

1. sister

   Synonym: باجی (bājī)

   Antonyms: بھائی (bhāī), بَرَادَر (barādar)

2. (polite) any female person

Declension

Declension of بہن
	singular	plural
direct	بہن (bahan)	بہنیں (bahanẽ)
oblique	بہن (bahan)	بہنوں (bahanõ)
vocative	بہن (bahan)	بہنو (bahano)

Further reading

• “بہن”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “بہن”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “بہن”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “بہن”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 191
• S. W. Fallon (1879) “بـﮩن”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co., page 300
• John Shakespear (1834) “بـﮩن”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “bhaginī”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press