thuggee

English

Etymology

From Hindi ठगी (ṭhagī).

Noun

thuggee (countable and uncountable, plural thuggees)

1. (historical, countable) A thug (member of band of assassins in India).
2. (historical, uncountable) The murder and robbery of groups of travellers in India.
   • 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 1070:

     ‘In India, where everything began, this kind of human activity, obscene in itself, was undertaken on behalf of a goddess, called, I think, Kali; the murder was an act of so-called thugee, I was told.’

Related terms

• thug
• Thuggism