कंजूस

See also: कंजूसी

Hindi edit

Etymology edit

Of unknown origin. McGregor tentatively postulates a combination of कान (kān, “ear”) +‎ चुस (cus, “be sucked”), lit. "ear-sucked"; compare मक्खीचूस (makkhīcūs, “miser, lit. fly-sucker”) for a similar formation.

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Could the first component be कण (kaṇ, “speck, particle, atom”) rather than कान? This seems to match better semantically (i.e. so miserly that even the tiniest of grains will be sucked of their nutritional value) and phonetically as well (the a is short, and perhaps the retroflex nasal gives a smoother pathway of voicing the च into a ज).”

Pronunciation edit

(Delhi Hindi) IPA^(key): /kən.d͡ʒuːs/, [kɐ̃n.d͡ʒuːs]

Adjective edit

कंजूस • (kañjūs) (indeclinable)

miserly, stingy

Synonyms edit

कृपण (kŕpaṇ)

Derived terms edit

कंजूसी (kañjūsī)

References edit

Bahri, Hardev (1989) “कंजूस”, in Siksarthi Hindi-Angrejhi Sabdakosa [Learners' Hindi-English Dictionary], Delhi: Rajpal & Sons.
McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “कंजूस”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press