چونا

Urdu

Etymology

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀘𑀼𑀡𑁆𑀡 (cuṇṇa), from Sanskrit चूर्ण (cūrṇa, “lime; powder”).

Sense 2 is a back-formation from چُونا لَگانا (cūnā lagānā, “to apply lime; (figuratively) to harm, deceive”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃuː.nɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː
• Hyphenation: چُو‧نا

Noun

چُونا • (cūnā) m (Hindi spelling चूना)

1. lime, chalk
3. (figuratively, especially Karachi) a scam, swindle

Declension

Declension of چونا

	singular	plural
direct	چُونا (cūnā)	چُونے (cūne)
oblique	چُونے (cūne)	چُونوں (cūnõ)
vocative	چُونے (cūne)	چُونو (cūno)

Further reading

• “چونا”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “چونا”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “چونا”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884), “چونا”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• Fallon, S. W. (1879), “چونا”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co., page 551
• John Shakespear (1834), “چونا”, 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