اردو

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *or- (“place of staying of the army; army”).

Noun

اردو • (ordu)

1. camp
2. army

Descendants

• Turkish: ordu
• → Arabic: عُرْضِيّ (ʕurḍiyy)
  • → Amharic: ዕርድ (ʿərd)
  • → Tigre: ዕርዲ (ʿərdi)
  • → Tigrinya: ዕርዲ (ʿərdi)

Persian

Etymology

Derived from Proto-Turkic *ordu (“army, camp”) (see Azerbaijani ordu, Turkish ordu, Turkmen orda). Compare horde.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔuɾ.ˈduː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔʊɾ.d̪úː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔʊɾ.d̪úː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔʊɾ.d̪úː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔuɾ.d̪ú]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔoɹ.d̪úː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔuɾ.d̪ú]

Readings
Classical reading?	urdū
Dari reading?	urdū
Iranian reading?	ordu
Tajik reading?	urdu

Noun

اردو • (ordu) (plural اردوها (ordu-hâ))

Dari	اردو
Iranian Persian
Tajik	урду

1. horde
2. (Iran) camping
3. (Dari) army

Proper noun

اُرْدو • (ordu)

1. Urdu

Adjective

اُرْدو • (ordu)

1. Urdu

Related terms

• زبان اردو (zabân-e ordu)

Descendants

• Dari: اردو (urdū)
• Iranian Persian: اردو (ordu)
• Tajik: урду (urdu), Урду (Urdu)
• → Bengali: উর্দু (urdu)
• → Gujarati: ઉર્દૂ (urdū)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: उर्दू (urdū)

  Urdu: اُرْدُو (urdū)

  • → English: Urdu
• → Kannada: ಉರ್ದೂ (urdū)
• → Marathi: उर्दू (urdū)
• → Nepali: उर्दु (urdu), उर्दू (urdū)
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਉਰਦੂ (uradū)

  Shahmukhi script: اُرْدُو (urdū)

• → Telugu: ఉర్దూ (urdū)

Urdu

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʊɾ.d̪uː/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Etymology 1

Shortened from اردوئے معلی (urdū-e mu’allá), from Old Hindi زبان اردوئے معلی (zubān-i urdū-e mu’allá), borrowed from Classical Persian زُبَانِ اُرْدُویِ مُعَلّیٰ (zubān-i urdū-yi mu'allā, “language of the royal camp”).

Proper noun

اُرْدُو • (urdū) f (Hindi spelling उर्दू)

Term Hindustani and Urdu were synonymous during first decade of the 20th century

1. the Urdu language
2. Rekhta
3. (historical) the Hindustani language as spoken in Delhi

   Synonym: لَشکَرِی (laśkarī)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Persian اردو (urdū), from Turkic.

Noun

اُرْدُو • (urdū) f (Hindi spelling उर्दू)

1. (military, rare) army, camp

   Synonym: لَشکَر

References

• “اردو”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “اردو”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.