میاں

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian میان (miyān, “center, (India) lord, sir”). First attested as Old Hindi मींयां (mī̃yā̃).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /mɪ.jɑ̃ː/

Noun

مِیاں • (miyā̃) m (Hindi spelling मियाँ)

1. (honorific, endearing) mister, sir

   کْیا بات کَر رَہے ہو مِیاں؟

   kyā bāt kar rahe ho miyā̃

   What are you talking about, mister?

2. husband

   Synonyms: شَوہَر (śauhar), خاونْد (xāvand)

   مِیاں بِیوِی ― miyā̃ bīvī ― husband and wife

3. person

Declension

Declension of میاں
	singular	plural
direct	مِیاں (miyā̃)	مِیاں (miyā̃)
oblique	مِیاں (miyā̃)	مِیاؤں (miyāõ)
vocative	مِیاں (miyā̃)	مِیاؤں (miyāõ)

Further reading

• “میاں”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “مياں”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co., page 625
• Platts, John T. (1884) “ميان”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 1103
• “میاں”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.