هندو

Persian

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Persian hndwk' (/⁠hindūg⁠/, “Indian”), demonym derived from Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 (hiⁿduš, “India”), from Sanskrit सिन्धु (sindhu, “the Indus River”) or Proto-Iranian *sindʰu.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /hin.ˈduː/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [hɪn̪.d̪uː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [hɪn̪.d̪uː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɪn̪.d̪uː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔin̪.d̪u]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [hen̪.d̪uː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [hin̪.d̪u]

Readings
Classical reading?	hindū
Dari reading?	hindū
Iranian reading?	hendu
Tajik reading?	hindu

Noun

هندو • (hindū / hendu) (plural هِنْدُوها, Tajik spelling ҳинду)

1. Hindu (practitioner of India's indigenous religion)
   • c. 1180, Khaqani Sherwani, Divan:

     تیغ تو داند که چیست رمز و اشارات دین / طرفه بود هندویی وز عربی ترجمان

     tēġ-i tu dānad ki čīst ramz u išārāt-i dīn / turfa buwad hindūyī w-az arabī tarjumān

     your sword knows about the secrets and allusions of the [Islamic] faith / it is a remarkable phenomenon, being a Hindu and [yet] a translator [of Islamic scriptures] from Arabic

2. (dated) Indian, inhabitant of the Indian subcontinent

   Synonym: (colloquial) هندی (hindī)

3. (uncommon, Islam, derogatory, offensive, religious slur) infidel

   Synonym: کافر (kāfir)

4. (archaic, derogatory, offensive) dirty, thief, robber, slave, hijacker

Descendants

• → Assamese: হিন্দু (hindu)
• → Bengali: হিন্দু (hindu), ইন্দু (indu) — Vanga
• → Catalan: hindú
• → Danish: hindu
• → Dutch: hindoe
• → English: Hindu, Hindoo (archaic)
  • → Hawaiian: Hinekū
  • → Japanese: ヒンドゥー (Hindū), ヒンズー (Hinzū)
• → Estonian: hindu
• → French: hindou
• → German: Hindu
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: हिंदू (hindū), हिन्दू (hindū)

  • → Malayalam: ഹിന്ദു (hindu)
  • → Swahili: Mhindu
  • → Tamil: இந்து (intu)

  Urdu: ہِنْدُو (hindū)

  • → Ushojo: ہِندو (hindū, hindō)

• → Hungarian: hindu
• → Italian: indù
• → Marathi: हिंदू (hindū), हिन्दू (hindū)
• → Norwegian Bokmål: hindu
• → Old Gujarati: हिंदू (hiṃdū)
  • Gujarati: હિંદુ (hindu)
• → Odia: ହିନ୍ଦୁ (hindu)
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਹਿੰਦੂ (hindū)

  Shahmukhi script: ہِنْدُو (hindū)

• → Polish: hindus
• → Portuguese: hindu
• → Spanish: hindú
• → Swedish: hindu

Adjective

هندو • (hindū / hendu) (Tajik spelling ҳинду)

1. Hindu, relating to Hinduism
2. (dated) Indian, relating to India
   • c. 1380, Hafez, “Shirazi Turk”, in Divan:

     به خال هندویش بخشم سمرقند و بخارا را

     ba xāl-i hindūyaš baxšam samarqand u buxārā rā

     for their Indian mole (beauty spot) I will give Samarqand and Bukhara