palanquin
UK/ˌpalənˈkiːn//ˌpælənˈkin/
palanquin noun: an enclosed human-borne litter or sedan chair, a large box with a chair, couch, or bed raised on horizontal poles and used as a mode of transport.
Noun
palanquin (plural palanquins)
- An enclosed human-borne litter or sedan chair, a large box with a chair, couch, or bed raised on horizontal poles and used as a mode of transport.
- At the end of two moneths I determined to go for Goa in the companye of two other Portingale Merchants, which were making readye to depart, with two Palanchines or little Litters, which are very commodious for the waye, with eight Falchines which are men hired, to carrie the palanchines, eight for...1588, Thomas Hickok translating Cesare Federici as The Voyage and Trauaile of M. Caesar Frederick, Merchant of Venice into the East India, the Indies, and beyond the Indies..., p. 10
- Behold the hero of the scene,
In bungalow and palankeen.1885, Henry Austin Dobson, At the Sign of the Lyre, section 177
- Synonyms:
- andor
- Synonym of litter, any similar vehicle open or closed, human or animal-borne, particularly (historical) in colonial Asian contexts.
- ... but the cars of chaste women have either coverings thrown over them, or white sheets hung over; for instance, on the cars of the female part of the family of the deceased Nawabs Khanduran and Muzaffar Khan, there used generally to be fastened thick dirty white cloths, and in like manner also on...1871, Sher Ali Afsos, translated by Henry Court, The Araish-i-Mahfil, or, The Ornament of the Assembly, page 31
- Behold his bed which is Solomon's. 'His bed' מִטָּתוֹ (mittatho)... The word here is generally understood to denote a palanquin or litter. Same as the 'chariot' in verse ninth... A royal bridal chariot or palanquin... A portable bed... A palanquin, sedan, or portable vehicle, in which Kings in the...1892, "Notes", "Homiletic Commentary on The Song of Solomon", The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary on the Old Testament..., p. 142
- Synonyms:
- litter, any similar vehicle open or closed, human or animal-borne, particularly, palki
palanquin meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
palanquin in Hindi
- an enclosed litter, particularly in Indian contexts — see also litter, sedan chair
- पालकी pālkī, डोली ḍolī
palanquin in Tamil
- an enclosed litter, particularly in Indian contexts — see also litter, sedan chair
- பல்லாக்கு pallākku
palanquin in Marathi
- an enclosed litter, particularly in Indian contexts — see also litter, sedan chair
- मेणा meṇā, पालखी pālkhī
palanquin in Urdu
- an enclosed litter, particularly in Indian contexts — see also litter, sedan chair
- پالکی pālkī
More languagesFewer languages
- palanquin in Bengali
- পালকি paloki
- palanquin in Telugu
- అందలము andalamu, పల్లకి pallaki
- palanquin in Malayalam
- പല്ലക്ക് pallakkŭ
- palanquin in Punjabi
- ਪਾਲਕੀ pālkī
- palanquin in Gujarati
- પાલખી pālkhī, પાલખ pālakh
- palanquin in Arabic
- حَمَّالَة ḥammāla, مِحَفَّة miḥaffa
- palanquin in Persian
- پالکی pâlki
- palanquin in Thai
- คานหาม kaan-hǎam, วอ wɔɔ, เกี้ยว gîao, แคร่หาม
- palanquin in Vietnamese
- kiệu, cáng
- palanquin in Myanmar
- သန်လျင်း sanlyang:, ဝေါ wau:
Examples of palanquin in a sentence
- Don't yer know a palanquin when you see it?' said Ortheris with great scorn...1889 December, Rudyard Kipling, “The Incarnation of Krishna Mulvaney”, in Macmillan's Magazine:
- The palanquin carries Pābūjī—and, according to the description on the par, he rides his mare mother on the palanquin...—towards Rāma's heaven.1999, Alf Hitlebeitel, Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits, page 110:
- Hence, for the cars or palanquins for women to ride in to be greatly embroidered is, in the opinion of certain men of standing, who are worthy to be trusted, of great infamy.1871, Sher Ali Afsos, translated by Henry Court, The Araish-i-Mahfil, or, The Ornament of the Assembly, page 31:
- The word here is generally understood to denote a palanquin or litter.1892, "Notes", "Homiletic Commentary on The Song of Solomon", The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary on the Old Testament..., p. 142
Synonyms of palanquin
- litter
- any similar vehicle open or closed
- human or animal-borne
- particularly
- palki
- andor
Forms of palanquin
| plural | palanquins |
|---|---|
| alternative form | palankin |
| alternative form | palankeen |
| alternative form | palanchin |
| alternative form | palanchine |
| alternative form | palanchino |
| alternative form | pallanchine |
| alternative form | pallankin |
| alternative form | palakin |
| alternative form | palamkeen |
| alternative form | palamkeene |
| alternative form | palamkin |
| alternative form | palankine |
| alternative form | palanquine |
| alternative form | pallaquin |
| alternative form | pallenkine |
| alternative form | pollankan |
| alternative form | palanqueen |
| alternative form | palenkeen |
| alternative form | pallankeen |
Origin of palanquin
From Portuguese palanquim (“Asian litter, litter-bearer”), from Odia ପାଲଙ୍କି (pālaṅki, “litter”), ultimately from Sanskrit पल्यङ्क (palyaṅka), variant of पर्यङ्क (paryaṅka, “bed, couch, litter”). Doublet of palki.
Questions about palanquin
- What does palanquin mean?
- Palanquin means an enclosed human-borne litter or sedan chair, a large box with a chair, couch, or bed raised on horizontal poles and used as a mode of transport.
- What is palanquin in Hindi?
- Palanquin in Hindi is पालकी (pālkī), डोली (ḍolī). See Palanquin meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use palanquin in a sentence?
- Don't yer know a palanquin when you see it?' said Ortheris with great scorn...
- What part of speech is palanquin?
- Palanquin is a noun.
- How do you pronounce palanquin?
- Palanquin is pronounced /ˌpælənˈkin/ (US).
- What is the plural of palanquin?
- The plural of palanquin is palanquins.
Words near palanquin in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: palanquin (page history and authors); ਪਾਲਕੀ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); પાલખ (Gujarati) (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: en-us-palanquin.ogg.
Cite this entry: “palanquin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/palanquin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.