begum

See also: Begum, bégum, and Begüm

English

Etymology 1

be- +‎ gum

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˈɡʌm/

Verb

1. (transitive) To daub or cover with gum.

Etymology 2

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Urdu بیگم and (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Hindi बेगम (begam, “lady”), from East (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  begüm, from Beg (a provincial governor under the Ottoman Empire, a bey) + -um (feminine suffix for titles of nobility). Compare خانم (hanım).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪɡəm/, /ˈbɛɡəm/

Noun

begum (plural begums)

1. a high-ranking Muslim woman, especially in India and Pakistan
   • 1850, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Chapter 1,^[1]

     He went to India with his capital, and there, according to a wild legend in our family, he was once seen riding on an elephant, in company with a Baboon; but I think it must have been a Baboo—or a Begum.

   • 1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram‎^[2], HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009:

     She was the daughter of an English officer, who having fallen in love with an Indian Begum gave up home, country, and friends, and married her.

   • 2012, The Economist, Bangladesh: Out of the basket

     toxic politics dominated by the bitter infighting of the “battling begums” (the widow and daughter of former presidents, who lead the two main parties).

2. the form of address for such a woman

Translations

a high ranking woman

• German: Begum (de) f
• Hindi: बेगम (hi) f (begam)
• Russian: бе́гума f (béguma)
• Swedish: begum (sv) c
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Telugu: బేగం (bēgaṁ)
• Urdu: بیگم f (begam)

Related terms

• bey (male form of begum)

Anagrams

• gumbe