begum
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
begum (third-person singular simple present begums, present participle begumming, simple past and past participle begummed)
- (transitive) To daub or cover with gum.
Etymology 2 edit
From Classical Persian بیگم (bēgum), from East Turkic begüm,[1] from beg (a title of nobility in Iran, Central Asia and South Asia) + -um (feminine suffix for titles of nobility).[2] Compare Classical Persian خانم (xānum).
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /ˈbeɪɡəm/, /ˈbɛɡəm/
Audio (Southern England) (file) Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛɡəm
Noun edit
begum (plural begums)
- a high-ranking Muslim woman, especially in South Asia
- 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:
- 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[1], 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, “Bangladesh: Out of the basket”, in The Economist[2]:
- toxic politics dominated by the bitter infighting of the “battling begums” (the widow and daughter of former presidents, who lead the two main parties).
- the form of address for such a woman
- 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 45, in The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
- It was a known fact that an envoy from an Indian Prince, a Colonel Altamont, the Nawaub of Lucknow’s prime favourite, an extraordinary man, who had, it was said, embraced Mahometanism, and undergone a thousand wild and perilous adventures was at present in this country, trying to negotiate with the Begum Clavering, the sale of the Nawaub’s celebrated nose-ring diamond, ‘the light of the Dewan.’
Translations edit
a high ranking woman
References edit
- ^ "begüm." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2008.
- ^ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “begüm”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
Related terms edit
- bey (male form of begum)