Word.ws English Dictionary

desi

/ˈdeɪ.si/

desi is the alternative form of Desi.

Noun (1)

desi (plural desis)

  1. A particular variety of cultivated chickpea.
    • There are two types of chickpea, desi (small seeded, angular and coloured) and kabuli (large seeded, ram-shaped and beige coloured). No precise information is available about the division of the 11 million hectares under chickpea between desis and kabulis, but an approximation is that more than 85...1984, J.R. Witcombe, Genetic Resources and Their Exploitation
    • These lighter coloured desis are now generally favoured by most markets as they look fresher, despite the majority of desis still ending up dehulled.2007, Shyam S. Yadav, Chickpea Breeding and Management, page 568

Adjective capitalized: Desi

Desi (comparative more Desi, superlative most Desi)

  1. Of or pertaining to the culture, people, or products of South Asia; South Asian.

Noun (2) capitalized: Desi

Desi (plural Desis)

  1. A member of the South Asian diaspora.
    • Desis from the United States have an accent; those from Canada, another.2011 August, Shagorika Easwar, "Hello ji!" (editor's column), Desi News (Canada), vol. 15, issue 8, p. 8

Proper noun capitalized: DESI

DESI

  1. (abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument.
    • While combining data sets is tricky, and these are early results from DESI, the possible evidence that dark energy is not constant is the best news I have heard since cosmic acceleration was firmly established 20-plus years ago.2024 April 4, Dennis Overbye, quoting Michael Turner, “A Tantalizing ‘Hint’ That Astronomers Got Dark Energy All Wrong”, in Thew New York Times

Forms of desi

Adjective
comparativemore desi
superlativemost desi
comparativemore Desi
superlativemost Desi
alternative formdesi
Noun
pluraldesis
pluralDesis

Origin of desi

Borrowed from Hindustani دیسی (desī) / देसी (desī).

Words formed from desi

Words that rhyme with desi

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about desi

What does desi mean?
Desi means a particular variety of cultivated chickpea.
What is desi the alternative form of?
Desi is the alternative form of Desi.
What part of speech is desi?
Desi can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce desi?
Desi is pronounced /ˈdeɪ.si/.
What is the plural of desi?
The plural of desi is desis.

Words near desi in the dictionary

  1. deshuffled
  2. deshuffler
  3. deshufflers
  4. deshuffles
  5. deshuffling
  6. desi
  7. Desia
  8. desialylate
  9. desialylated
  10. desialylates
  11. desialylating

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: desi (page history and authors); Desi (page history and authors); DESI (page history and authors). 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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Desi2.wav.

Cite this entry: “desi.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/desi. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.