Word.ws English Dictionary

Gurkha

Gurkha noun: a member of the dominant ethnic group in Nepal, with a Himalayan diaspora.

Noun

Gurkha (plural Gurkhas or Gurkha)

  1. A member of the dominant ethnic group in Nepal, with a Himalayan diaspora.
  2. A member of this people recruited to serve in their own elite units in the British and Indian armies.

Adjective

Gurkha (comparative more Gurkha, superlative most Gurkha)

  1. Referring or belonging to the Gurkha people.
    • The Gurkha royal house of Shah united all Nepal under its rule
  2. Referring or belonging to Gurkha soldiers.
    • In 2009, Gurkha veterans were awarded better terms in the UK

Gurkha meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam and Gujarati

Gurkha in Hindi

military
गोरखा gorkhā
member of ethnic group
गोरखा gorkhā

Gurkha in Urdu

Gurkha
گورکھا gorkhā

Gurkha in Malayalam

member of ethnic group
ഗുർഖ guṟkha, ഗൂർഖ gūṟkha

Gurkha in Gujarati

military
ગુરખો gurkho
member of ethnic group
ગુરખો gurkho
More languagesFewer languages
Gurkha in Odia
ଗୋରଖା gorakhā
Gurkha in Sanskrit
गोरक्ष gorakṣa
Gurkha in Nepali
गोर्खा gorkhā, गोर्खाली gorkhālī, गोरखाली gorakhālī
Gurkha in Myanmar
ဂေါ်ရခါး gaura.hka:

Forms of Gurkha

Noun
pluralGurkhas
pluralGurkha
alternative formGorkha
alternative formGhurkha
alternative formGhoorka
alternative formGoorka
alternative formGoorkha
Adjective
comparativemore Gurkha
superlativemost Gurkha

Origin of Gurkha

From Nepali गोर्खा (gorkhā, “inhabitant of Gorkha”), from गोरखा (gorakhā)/गोर्खा (gorkhā, “Gorkha District”), from Sanskrit गोरक्ष (gorakṣa, “cowherd”) an epithet of the patron deity Gorakhnath, from गो (go, “cow”) + रक्ष् (rakṣ, “protect”).

Words formed from Gurkha

Phrases with Gurkha

Words that rhyme with Gurkha

Questions about Gurkha

What does Gurkha mean?
Gurkha means a member of the dominant ethnic group in Nepal, with a Himalayan diaspora.
What is Gurkha in Hindi?
Gurkha in Hindi is गोरखा (gorkhā). See Gurkha meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is Gurkha?
Gurkha can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of Gurkha?
The plural of Gurkha is Gurkhas.

Words near Gurkha in the dictionary

  1. gurjuns
  2. gurk
  3. Gurka
  4. Gurkas
  5. gurked
  6. Gurkha
  7. Gurkha knife
  8. Gurkha knives
  9. Gurkhali
  10. gurkhan
  11. gurkhans

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Gurkha (page history and authors); گورکھا (Urdu) (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-Gurkha.wav.

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