babu
/ˈbɑːbuː/
babu noun: a Hindu title of respect, equivalent to Mr., usually appended to the surname of a Hindu man.
Noun
babu (plural babus)
- A Hindu title of respect, equivalent to Mr., usually appended to the surname of a Hindu man.
- I could see Kana-babu’s sweet-shop at the end of their lane with absolute clarity.1989, Amitav Ghosh, Shadow Lines
- Originally, a Hindu gentleman employed to work as a clerk for the colonial administration; now, a clerk or low-ranking government official.
- The Babu put on his cap and quietly dropped out of the window1888, Rudyard Kipling, “His Chance in Life”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 57
- Office babus are the real rulers of this country now. Our number's up. Best thing we can do is to shut up shop and let 'em stew in their own juice.1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Chapter 2”, in Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC
- an archetypical Indian bureaucrat, perceived as being corrupt, lazy or arrogant.
- BBMP doesn’t have any elected representatives right now. So a babu has floated this tender to benefit his favourite businessmen.2025 July 10, @MehHarshil, X (Formerly Twitter)
Proper noun capitalized: Babu
Babu (plural Babus)
- A surname.
babu meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Telugu
babu in Hindi
- बाबू
babu in Tamil
- பாபு
babu in Urdu
- بابو
babu in Telugu
- బాబు, బాబూ
More languagesFewer languages
- babu in Malayalam
- ബാബു
- babu in Kannada
- ಬಾಬು
- babu in Punjabi
- ਬਾਬੂ
- babu in Gujarati
- બાબુ, બાબૂ
- babu in Odia
- ବାବୁ
Forms of babu
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | babus |
| alternative form (archaic) | baboo |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Babus |
Origin of babu
Borrowed from Hindi बाबू (bābū), from Proto-New Indo-Aryan *बाब्ब (bābba), imitative of baby talk.
Words formed from babu
Questions about babu
- What does babu mean?
- Babu means a Hindu title of respect, equivalent to Mr., usually appended to the surname of a Hindu man.
- What is babu in Hindi?
- Babu in Hindi is बाबू. See Babu meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is babu?
- Babu can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce babu?
- Babu is pronounced /ˈbɑːbuː/.
- What is the plural of babu?
- The plural of babu is babus.
Words near babu in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: babu (page history and authors); Babu (page history and authors); babu (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); babu (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); babu (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); babu (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); babu (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); babu (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); babu (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); babu (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); babu (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-babu.wav.
Cite this entry: “babu.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/babu. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.