babu
Pronunciation: /ˈbɑːbuː/
The English word “babu” has 3 meanings listed here.
noun
- A Hindu title of respect, equivalent to Mr., usually appended to the surname of a Hindu man.
- Originally, a Hindu gentleman employed to work as a clerk for the colonial administration; now, a clerk or low-ranking government official.
- an archetypical Indian bureaucrat, perceived as being corrupt, lazy or arrogant.
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindi बाबू (bābū), from Proto-New Indo-Aryan *बाब्ब (bābba), imitative of baby talk.
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.