munshi
Syllables: mun·shi/ˈmuːnʃiː/US/ˈmunʃi/
munshi noun: a clerk or secretary.
Noun (1)
munshi (plural munshis)
- A clerk or secretary.
- Then Your Committee examined Goneſhamdaſs, who was formerly Moonſhee, or Perſian Tranſlator, to Colonel Graham; [...]1773 June 18, “Fifth Report from the Committee Appointed to Enquire into the Nature, State, and Condition, of the East India Company, and of the British Affairs in the East Indies”, in Reports from...
- Whoever has memory to retain what he hears, and who ſpeaks ſo intelligibly that no doubt of his meaning ariſes in his audience, and who is a man of good actions, [...] ſuch perſon the magiſtrate ſhall conſtitute his Leekhuk or Moonſhi, and writer.1777 September, “A Code of Gentoo Laws, or Ordinations of the Pundits, from a Persian Translation, Made from the Original, Written in the Shanscrit Language. 4to. London, 1776.—Printed at the Expence...
- A language teacher, especially one teaching Hindustani or Persian.
- Several of us, at one time or another, engaged "moonshis" or teachers, and tried to learn Hindustani, in which language, with one exception I think, none of us became very proficient.1875 April, [John Arthur Bayley], chapter IV, in Reminiscences of School and Army Life, 1839 to 1859, [London?]: [Privately printed; s.n.], →OCLC, pages 54–55
- [A] beautifully-bound Tamil Bible and Prayer Book were brought over from the body of Christians on the other side the line by Edward Muttiyathillay, the munshee who had rendered such efficient help in the translation of both these books.1875 December 11, “The Prince of Wales and the Native Church of Tinnevelly”, in The Church Missionary Intelligencer and Record, a Monthly Journal of Missionary Information, volume I (New Series)...
Noun (2) capitalized: Munshi
Munshi pl (plural only)
- Alternative form of Munchi.
Proper noun capitalized: Munshi
Munshi (plural Munshis)
- A surname.
munshi meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
munshi in Hindi
- clerk; secretary — see also clerk, secretary
- मुंशी muñśī
- language teacher
- मुंशी muñśī
munshi in Urdu
- clerk; secretary — see also clerk, secretary
- مُنْشی munśī
- language teacher
- مُنْشی munśī
munshi in Bengali
- clerk; secretary — see also clerk, secretary
- মুন্সী munśi
munshi in Malayalam
- clerk; secretary — see also clerk, secretary
- മുൻശി muṉśi
More languagesFewer languages
- munshi in Punjabi
- ਮੁੰਸ਼ੀ mũśī
- munshi in Pashto
- منشي monši
- munshi in Arabic
- مُنْشِئ munšiʔ
Forms of munshi
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | munshis |
| alternative form | moonshee |
| alternative form | moonshi |
| alternative form | munsee |
| alternative form | munshee |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Munshis |
Origin of munshi
Borrowed from Urdu منشی (munšī, “secretary; munshi”) or directly from its etymon Classical Persian منشی (munšī, “secretary; munshi”), from Arabic مُنْشِئ (munšiʔ, “teacher; writer”).
Phrases with munshi
Questions about munshi
- What does munshi mean?
- Munshi means a clerk or secretary.
- What is munshi in Hindi?
- Munshi in Hindi is मुंशी (muñśī). See Munshi meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is munshi?
- Munshi can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce munshi?
- Munshi is pronounced /ˈmuːnʃiː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of munshi?
- The plural of munshi is munshis.
Words near munshi in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: munshi (page history and authors); Munshi (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-munshi.wav.
Cite this entry: “munshi.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/munshi. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.