کھنڈر

Urdu

Alternative forms

• کَھنْڈَھر (khanḍhar) — obsolete

Etymology

From کَھنْڈ (khanḍ, “fragment”) +‎ ـر (-ar), from Sanskrit खण्ड (khaṇḍá).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /kʰən.ɖəɾ/
• Rhymes: -əɾ
• Hyphenation: کَھن‧ڈَر

Adjective

کَھنْڈَر • (khanḍar) (indeclinable, Hindi spelling खंडहर)

1. in ruins, dilapidated
   • 1984, Intizar Hussain, زمین اور فلک اور [Land and Sky and]‎^[1], →OCLC, page 101:

     مگر اندر قدم رکھو تو سب کھنڈر نظر آئے گا۔ در و بام میں سے اب کچھ سلامت نہیں ہے۔

     magar andar qadam rakho to sab khanḍar nazar āe gā. dar o bām mẽ se ab kuch salāmat nahī̃ hai.

     But if you step inside, you will see all everything in ruins. No place inside is safe or sound.

2. ancient

Noun

کَھنْڈَر • (khanḍar) m (formal plural کَھنْڈَرات (khanḍarāt), Hindi spelling खंडहर)

1. ruin (ie. ruins of a building)

   Synonyms: وِیرَانَہ (vīrāna), خَرَابَہ (xarāba)

2. (by extension, figuratively, derogatory) a house
   • 1917, Rashid ul Khairi, شامِ زندگی [Evening of Life]‎^[2], →ISBN, →OCLC, page 14:

     اور خود جس کے آگے چار چار نوکر تھے، وہ ایک کھنڈر میں زندگی بسر کر رہی ہیں۔

     aur xod jis ke āge cār cār naukar the, vo ek khanḍar mẽ zindagī basar kar rahī ha͠i.

     And the one who was accompanied by several servants, is herself living in a ruin.

3. ruins; or the signs of a ruin (ie. giant ruins of a town)
4. (agriculture) barren-land
5. pit; hole; lair

Declension

Declension of کھنڈر
	singular	plural
direct	کَھنْڈَر (khanḍar)	کَھنْڈَر (khanḍar)
oblique	کَھنْڈَر (khanḍar)	کَھنْڈَروں (khanḍarō̃)
vocative	کَھنْڈَر (khanḍar)	کَھنْڈَرو (khanḍarō)

Further reading

• “کھنڈر”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “کھنڈر”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “کهنڈر”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co., page 510
• Platts, John T. (1884) “کهنڐر”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 881
• S. W. Fallon (1879) “کهندَر”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co., page 973
• John Shakespear (1834) “کهنڐر”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “khaṇḍá¹”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 199