ছেলে

See also: ছোলা

Bengali

Etymology

Umlaut of Middle Bengali ছেলিয়া (cheliẏa, “young person or animal”), from Magadhi Prakrit 𑀙𑁂𑀮𑀺𑀅𑀓​ (cheliaka​), from 𑀙𑁂𑀮𑀺𑀅 (chelia) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀓- (-ka-), from earlier Ashokan Prakrit *𑀙𑀬𑀮𑀺𑀅 (*chayalia), from Sanskrit छगलिक (chagalika, “kid, young goat”), from छगल (chagala, “goat”) +‎ -इक (-ika); the semantic shift of a word for the young of a farm animal to mean the offspring of people is not uncommon (compare Bengali বাচ্চা (bacca) and বৎস (botśo), both of which were once solely used to refer to calves; compare also English kid).

Pronunciation

• (Rarh) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃʰele/, [ˈt͡ʃʰeleˑ]

  Audio:

  (file)

• (Dhaka) IPA^(key): /tɕʰele/, [ˈtɕʰeleˑ]

  Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ছেলে • (chele)

1. boy

   Synonyms: বেটা (beṭa), ছাওয়াল (chaōẇal)

2. son

   Synonyms: পুত্র (putro), পুত (put), বেটা (beṭa), ফুয়া (phuẏa)

3. guy

Inflection

Inflection of ছেলে
nominative	ছেলে chele
objective	ছেলেকে cheleke
genitive	ছেলের cheler
	Indefinite forms
nominative	ছেলে chele
objective	ছেলেকে cheleke
genitive	ছেলের cheler
	Definite forms
	singular		plural
nominative	ছেলেটা, ছেলেটি cheleṭa (colloquial), cheleṭi (formal)		ছেলেরা chelera
objective	ছেলেটাকে, ছেলেটিকে cheleṭake (colloquial), cheleṭike (formal)		ছেলেদের(কে) cheleder(ke)
genitive	ছেলেটার, ছেলেটির cheleṭar (colloquial), cheleṭir (formal)		ছেলেদের cheleder
Objective Note: In some dialects -রে (-re) marks this case instead of -কে (-ke).

Antonyms

• (boy, son, guy) মেয়ে (meẏe)

Derived terms

• ছেলেমানুষ (chelemanuś)
• ছেলেপেলে (chelepele)
• ছেলেধরা (cheledhora)