SAHIB (SAW-ihb)
An
Arabic term which literally translates to “Owner” of
“Proprietor” Common clues: Indian term of respect;
Indian honorific; Madras master; Sir, in India;
Title of respect in India Crossword
puzzle frequency:
once a year Frequency
in English language:
54087 / 86800 Video: Last
Days of the Raj
Sahib
in English, is an Arabic term which literally translates to
"Owner" or "Proprieter". It has passed on to
several languages including Hindi-Urdu (Hindustani), Punjabi,
Bengali, Gujarati, Pashto, Persian, Turkish and Marathi. It has
been translated in the Indian sub-continent after the advent of
colonialism as: grace or, as in the Sikh religion, "Guru's
honor." It comes from the Arabic ṣāḥib,
originally "Owner" but in a different context of usage;
"Suhabaa", it can mean "companion". The
"companion" variant is derived more specifically from
the word "As'haab" which is Arabic for "Friends".
Its grammatical feminine form is ṣāḥibah, but
the use may differ greatly.
The
British Indian Empire, 1909
Sahib
means "friend" in Arabic and was commonly used in the
Sub-continent as a courteous term in the way that "Mister"
(also derived from the word "master") and "Misses"
(derived from the word "mistress") is used in the
English language. It is still used today in the Sub-continent
just as "Mister" and "Misses", and continues
to be used today by English language speakers as a polite form of
address.
The
term sahib was applied indiscriminately to any person whether
Indian or Non-Indian. This included Europeans who arrived in the
Sub-continent as traders in the 16th Century and hence the first
mention of the word in European records is in 1673.
Pukka
sahib was also a term used to signify genuine and legitimate
authority, with pukka meaning "first-class" or
"absolutely genuine."
Sahiba
is the authentic form address to be used for a female. Under the
British Raj, however, the word used for female members of the
establishment was adapted to memsahib, a corruption of the
English word "ma'am" which was added to the word sahib.
The
same word is also appended to the names of Sikh gurus.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Sahib".
04
Lionel Richie hit of 1987
1
We LAT 08 She played Theodora on "Sisters"
1
We NYS 06 "Sisters" Emmy winner Ward
|