pishachi

English

Alternative forms

• pishache, pishashi

Etymology

From Sanskrit.

Noun

pishachi (plural pishachis)

1. (South Asia, now rare) A female demon.
   • 1807, Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, A Journey from Madras, III.14:

     They believe, that such men as die accidental deaths become Pysáchi, or evil spirits, and are exceedingly troublesome, by making extraordinary noises in families, and occasioning fits, and other diseases, especially in women.

   • 1837, Julia Maitland, Letters from Madras, published 1843:

     She used to go out and howl so that the servants were afraid to come near her, saying she made ‘one pishashi (devil) noise’.

   • 2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 56:

     Deeti had discovered that she had run short of water; to leave the dishes unwashed overnight was to invite an invasion of ghosts, of ghouls and hungry pishaches.