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tawaif

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Bangladesh/t̪ə.ʋɑː.ɪf/

tawaif noun: a professional courtesan serving the nobility, especially under the Mughal Empire; (derogatory).

Noun

tawaif (plural tawaifs)

  1. (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South-Asia, historical) A professional courtesan serving the nobility, especially under the Mughal Empire; (derogatory)
    • ‘The tawaif has graduated from mere singing to dancing.’1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 11
    • Characterized by its soft eroticism, mujra was performed by courtesans called tawaif who were an integral part of life in the Mughal court.2008, Susan Dewey, Hollow Bodies, page 147
  2. (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South-Asia, derogatory) harlot, whore, prostitute

tawaif meaning in Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati

tawaif in Hindi

tawaif, courtesan
तवायफ़ tavāyaf

tawaif in Urdu

tawaif, courtesan
طوائف tavāif

tawaif in Gujarati

tawaif, nautch, courtesan
તવાયફ tavāyaph

Forms of tawaif

pluraltawaifs

Origin of tawaif

Borrowed from Hindustani (Hindi तवायफ़ (tavāyaf) / Urdu طَوائِف (tavāif)), in turn derived from Classical Persian طَوَائِف (tawā'if), ultimately derived from Arabic طَوائِف (ṭawāʔif).

Questions about tawaif

What does tawaif mean?
Tawaif means a professional courtesan serving the nobility, especially under the Mughal Empire; (derogatory).
What is tawaif in Hindi?
Tawaif in Hindi is तवायफ़ (tavāyaf). See Tawaif meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is tawaif?
Tawaif is a noun.
How do you pronounce tawaif?
Tawaif is pronounced /t̪ə.ʋɑː.ɪf/ (Bangladesh).
What is the plural of tawaif?
The plural of tawaif is tawaifs.

Words near tawaif in the dictionary

  1. tawa
  2. Tawaan
  3. tawaf
  4. tawafs
  5. Tawagan Sur
  6. tawaif
  7. tawaifs
  8. Tawallammat Tamajaq
  9. Tawang
  10. Tawantawan
  11. tawapou

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tawaif (page history and authors); तवायफ़ (Hindi) (page history and authors); طوائف (Urdu) (page history and authors); તવાયફ (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.

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