Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Wiktionary

babu

See also: Babu and baboe

English

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Hindi बाबू (bābū).

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

babu (plural babus) (India, Hinglish)

  1. A Hindu title of respect, equivalent to Mr., usually appended to the surname of a Hindu man [from 18th c.]
    • 1989, Amitav Ghosh, Shadow Lines:
      I could see Kana-babu’s sweet-shop at the end of their lane with absolute clarity.
  2. (Originally) a Hindu gentleman employed to work as a clerk for the colonial administration; now, a clerk or low-ranking government official. [from 19th c.]
    • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “His Chance in Life”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 57:
      The Babu put on his cap and quietly dropped out of the window
    • 1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Chapter 2”, in Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC:
      Office babus are the real rulers of this country now. Our number's up. Best thing we can do is to shut up shop and let 'em stew in their own juice.
    • 2014, James Lambert, “Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis”, in World Englishes, page 116:
      From the prevailing colonial perspective, the English of the babus was error-ridden and characterised by over-elaborate ornateness, and for these ‘transgressions’ it became the butt of native-speaker ridicule.

Derived terms

edit

Brunei Malay

edit

Etymology

edit

From Javanese ꦧꦧꦸ (babu, “female servant”, literally “mother”), from Old Javanese babu (“mother; older servant”), wawuh (“familiar, acquainted”). Compare Portuguese babo.

Noun

edit

babu

  1. A mother.
    Synonym: mama
  2. An aunt.
  3. Term for any middle-aged or elderly woman.

Bunun

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Austronesian *babuy.

Noun

edit

babu

  1. pig (livestock)

Indonesian

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

Inherited from Malay babu, from Javanese ꦧꦧꦸ (babu, “female servant”, literally “mother”), from Old Javanese babu (“mother; older servant”), wawuh (“familiar, acquainted”). Compare Portuguese babo.

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /ˈbabu/
  • Hyphenation: ba‧bu
  • Rhymes: -bu, -u

Noun

edit

babu (plural babu-babu, first-person possessive babuku, second-person possessive babumu, third-person possessive babunya)

  1. housemaid

Derived terms

edit

See also

edit

Further reading

edit

Jarawa

edit

Etymology

edit

From Hindi बाबू (bābū). Cognate to Önge babu.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

babu

  1. official, officer (of the Indian government of the Andamans)

References

edit
  • Kumar, Pramod (2012) Descriptive and Typological Study of Jarawa[1] (PhD). Jawaharlal Nehru University. Page 111, 141, 187.

Javanese

edit

Romanization

edit

babu

  1. Romanization of ꦧꦧꦸ

Lower Sorbian

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

babu

  1. accusative/instrumental singular of baba

Old Javanese

edit

Etymology

edit

Unknown, probably from Proto-Mon-Khmer *(ʔ)boʔ (“mother”) (compare Temiar buk (“mother”), Jehai baboʔ (“woman”), Vietnamese vợ (“wife”), and Mon ၝောံ (bɜ̀ʔ)).

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /ba.bu/
  • Rhymes: -bu
  • Hyphenation: ba‧bu

Noun

edit

babu

  1. mother
    Synonyms: babu, bibi, ibu, iduṅ, ina, inaṅ, induṅ, janmayoni, mātā, matuh, rena
  2. older servant

Derived terms

edit

Descendants

edit
  • > Javanese: ꦧꦧꦸ (babu) (inherited)
    • → Brunei Malay: babu
    • → Malay: babu
    • → Indonesian: babu
  • → Balinese: ᬩᬩᬸ (babu)

Further reading

edit
  • "babu" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.

Serbo-Croatian

edit

Noun

edit

babu (Cyrillic spelling бабу)

  1. accusative singular of baba

Shabo

edit

Adjective

edit

babu

  1. two

Slovak

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

babu

  1. accusative singular of baba

Swahili

edit
 
Swahili Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sw

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

babu (n class, plural babu)

  1. grandfather (from either side)

Coordinate terms

edit

Tagalog

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

A play on babay or English bye-bye.

Pronunciation

edit

Interjection

edit

babú (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜊᜓ)

  1. (slang) goodbye; ta ta
    Synonyms: paalam, babay

Ternate

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Verb

edit

babu (Jawi بابو)

  1. (intransitive) (of humans) to fall
    Synonym: doro (of non-humans)
    ngofa ibabu ― children fall
    ibabu toma kaha ― they fell on the ground
  2. (intransitive) to be overthrown

Conjugation

edit
Conjugation of babu
Singular Plural
Inclusive Exclusive
1st tobabu fobabu mibabu
2nd nobabu nibabu
3rd Masculine obabu ibabu, yobabu†
Feminine mobabu
Neuter ibabu
† - archaic

References

edit
  • Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890) Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
  • Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Veps

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Finnic *papu. The initial b- was introduced by analogy with Russian боб (bob).

Noun

edit

babu

  1. bean

Inflection

edit
Inflection of babu (inflection type 1/ilo)
nominative sing. babu
genitive sing. babun
partitive sing. babud
partitive plur. babuid
singular plural
nominative babu babud
accusative babun babud
genitive babun babuiden
partitive babud babuid
essive-instructive babun babuin
translative babuks babuikš
inessive babus babuiš
elative babuspäi babuišpäi
illative babuhu babuihe
adessive babul babuil
ablative babulpäi babuilpäi
allative babule babuile
abessive babuta babuita
comitative babunke babuidenke
prolative babudme babuidme
approximative I babunno babuidenno
approximative II babunnoks babuidennoks
egressive babunnopäi babuidennopäi
terminative I babuhusai babuihesai
terminative II babulesai babuilesai
terminative III babussai —
additive I babuhupäi babuihepäi
additive II babulepäi babuilepäi

References

edit
  • Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “боб”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎[2], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Yindjibarndi

edit

Noun

edit

babu

  1. father
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=babu&oldid=80531371"