Hindōstāni

Proper noun

Hindustani

1. The pluricentric language of Hindi-Urdu, of which Hindi and Urdu are literary standards; the language from which Hindi and Urdu are derived.
   • Swerg, in the Hinduſtànì language, means Heaven.1792, Sir William Jones, Dissertations and Miscellaneous Pieces Relating to the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences, and Literature, of Asia, page 150
2. The Delhi dialect of that language.
3. (historical) The language which is now known as Urdu.
   • Hindustani, or Urdu (i.e., camp language), is a dialect of Hindi, differing from it in its large admixture of Persian words, and in that it is usually printed in Persian or Arabic characters, while Hindi is commonly printed in Sanskrit letters.1895, Harlan Page Beach, The Cross in the Land of the Trident, page 59
4. (historical) The language which is now known as Hindi.
   • Of the several languages derived from the Sanskrit, none exercises so general and wide-spread an influence over India as the Hindi, or Sir George's Common Hindustani.1873, Haris Chandra's magazine, page 119, column 1

See all 8 meanings of Hindustani