munshi
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: Borrowed from Urdu منشی (munšī, “secretary; munshi”) or directly from its etymon Classical Persian منشی (munšī, “secretary; munshi”), from Arabic مُنْشِئ (munšiʔ, “teacher; writer”).
Inflected forms:
form: munshis
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: moonshee
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: moonshi
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: munsee
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: munshee
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: A clerk or secretary.
pos: noun
tags: South-Asia
examples: Then Your Committee examined Goneſhamdaſs, who was formerly Moonſhee, or Perſian Tranſlator, to Colonel Graham; [...]
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.
This, and the two other examples given in the ſame plate, are from manuſcripts written in the coarſe and haſty manner of the Indian Munſhees: the reader muſt not expect, therefore, in ſuch writings, to have his eye delighted with graceful flouriſhes, minute hair-ſtrokes, or elegant combinations.
The next day, as soon as a case was decided, he quietly sneaked out of the room, and, following the successful suitor, significantly held out his palm. "To my joy and surprise," says Paunchkourí, "he slipped a rupee into it, and whispered to me to give the múnshí (the Persian clerk) his share.["]
The moonshees succeeded in that litigation, and the decree in their suit declared the lands to be part of the jote tenure, and limited the zemindar's claim to a title to assess them for rent.
My munshi, a Mohammedan, gave us one morning a long account of what he believed, and what religious observances he had to follow. [...] The munshi smiled, as is the way of munshis, whatever answer is given them, but he asked no more.
The Raja, for example, escaped and, while in disguise, finds work as Bahram's munshi or secretary – but these strands never quite recover the verve of their first outing.
“Not only my father Garib Das and two elder brothers—Raghav Das and Anurag Das—and brother-in-law Anup Lal were indomitable freedom fighters, but even our ‘munshi’ and domestic servants were greatly touched by the patriotic fervour”, says 83-year-old Parimal Das, a native of village Khajuri in Araria district.
gloss: A language teacher, especially one teaching Hindustani or Persian.
pos: noun
tags: South-Asia
examples: 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.
[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.
This meant that Paulette had learnt a good deal of Latin from her father, while also absorbing Indian languages from the learned munshis who had been enlisted to assist the curator with his collections.
When [Queen] Victoria died Bertie took his revenge by expunging every personal trace of her life at Windsor, dismantling her rooms (which he then occupied), and burning her letters to her Indian servant, the ‘Munshi’, in the latter’s presence.
Related words: Munshi
Translations:
lang: Arabic
word: مُنْشِئ
roman: munšiʔ
lang: Azerbaijani
word: münşi
lang: Bengali
word: মুন্সী
roman: munśi
lang: Hindi
word: मुंशी
roman: muñśī
lang: Malayalam
word: മുൻശി
roman: muṉśi
lang: Pashto
word: منشي
roman: monši
lang: Persian
word: مُنْشِی
roman: munšī
lang: Iranian Persian
word: مُنْشی
roman: monši
lang: Punjabi
word: ਮੁੰਸ਼ੀ
roman: mũśī
lang: Tajik
word: муншӣ
roman: munši
lang: Turkish
word: münşi
lang: Urdu
word: مُنْشی
roman: munśī
lang: Uzbek
word: munshiy