بندہ

See also: بنده

Punjabi

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-

Old Persian 𐎲𐎭𐎣 (b-d-k)

Classical Persian بَنْدَه (banda)bor.

Punjabi بَنْدَہ

Borrowed from Classical Persian بَنْدَه (banda). By surface analysis, بَنْد (band, “close; confined”) +‎ ـَہ (-ah). Doublet of بَنّھݨا (bannhṇā, “to tie”) and بانھا (bānhā, “slave”).

Sense 1 is probably a back-formation from رَبّ دا بَندَہ (rabb dā bandah, “pious man”, literally “servant of God”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /bən.d̪äː/
• Hyphenation: بَنْ‧دَہ

Noun

بَنْدَہ • (baṉda) m (female equivalent بَنْدی, Gurmukhi spelling ਬੰਦਾ)

2. man, person
3. human
4. (dated) slave, servant
5. (figuratively) male partner

Declension

Declension of بندہ

	singular	plural
direct	بَنْدَہ (bandah)	بَنْدے (bande)
oblique	بَنْدے (bande)	بَنْدیاں (bandeyāṉ)
vocative	بَنْدیا (bandeyā)	بَنْدیو (bandeyo)
ablative	بَنْدیوں (bandeyoṉ)	—
locative	بَنْدے (bande)	بَنْدِیں (bandīṉ)
instrumental	بَنْدے (bande)	بَنْدِیں (bandīṉ)

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002), “بندہ”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat (in Punjabi), Lahore: عزیز پبلشرز [ʻazīz pabliśarz]
• Bashir, Kanwal (2012), “بندہ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Hyattsville, MD: Dunwoody Press
• “ਬੰਦਾ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2026

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-

Old Persian 𐎲𐎭𐎣 (b-d-k)

Classical Persian بَنْدَه (banda)bor.

▲

Punjabi بَنْدَہ (bandah)influ.

Urdu بَنْدَہ

Borrowed from Classical Persian بَنْدَه (banda). By surface analysis, بَنْد (band, “close; block; confined”) +‎ ـَہ (-a). Doublet of بَانْدْھنَا (bāndhnā, “to tie”). First attested in c. 1649 as Middle Hindi بندہ (banda).

• Sense 5 is a semantic loan from Punjabi بَنْدَہ / ਬੰਦਾ (bandah, “person; man”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /bən.d̪ɑ(ː)/
• Hyphenation: بَنْ‧دَہ

Noun

بَنْدَہ • (banda) m (female equivalent بَنْدی (bandī), Hindi spelling बंदा)

1. slave, servant, bondsman

   Synonym: غُلام (ġulām)

2. worshipper, man of God
3. human, creature
4. male partner, man (in a relationship)
6. (colloquial, earlier chiefly Punjabic Urdu, Delhiite) person, man, guy, bloke

   Synonyms: آدَمِی (ādamī), شَخْص (śaxs)

7. (formal, polite) servant (used to refer to oneself humbly)

   Synonym: خَاکْسَار (xāksār)

Declension

Declension of بندہ

	singular	plural
direct	بَنْدَہ (bandah)	بَنْدے (bande)
oblique	بَنْدے (bande)	بَنْدوں (bandõ)
vocative	بَنْدے (bande)	بَنْدو (bando)

Further reading

More information

• “بندہ”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “بندہ”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884), “بنده”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 170
• Fallon, S. W. (1879), “بنده”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co., page 276
• John Shakespear (1834), “بنده”, 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, page 281