Urdu

[ oo r-doo, ur-; oo r-doo, ur- ]

/ ˈʊər du, ˈɜr-; ʊərˈdu, ɜr- /

noun

one of the official languages of Pakistan, a language derived from Hindustani, used by Muslims, and written with Persian-Arabic letters.

Origin of Urdu

< Urdu, Hindi urdū, extracted from Persian zabān i urdū literally, language of the camp (ultimately < Turkic; see horde)

Example sentences from the Web for urdu

In its place came something which, striving to fuse Urdu and Telugu, seemed to devalue both.

India’s Newest State Telangana Is Bosnia Redux |Kranti Rai |March 22, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Locals used to teach British officers Arabic, Hindi, Urdu and Persian.

The Taliban’s Letter to Malala Yousafzai |The Daily Beast |July 17, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
The order came again, in Arabic and Urdu, along with a warning that otherwise access would be achieved with explosives.

Bin Laden’s Life on the Run, Witnessed by Al Qaeda Child Bride |Michael Daly |July 10, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
To the left was West Pakistan, where they ruled, and spoke Urdu, and wrote in an alphabet that flowed like water under wind.

Bangladesh’s Midnight Children: Philip Hensher’s ‘Scenes From Early Life’ |Lucy Scholes |January 9, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

Imran Khan speaks in Urdu to his Pakistani-American audience.

Imran Khan Talks U.S. Election, Drone Strikes |Shirin Sadeghi |November 6, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
Then to the mahout she continued in Urdu, "Gul Dad, are you hurt?"

The Jungle Girl |Gordon Casserly
He blundered out almost into the Englishman's arms, and was bad-worded in clumsy Urdu.

Kim |Rudyard Kipling
He told the jamadar, in Urdu, that his mistress and the chota bibi would remain at his house for the night.

In Clive's Command |Herbert Strang
(Bishtra—a seat, means also a bedding like the Persian bistar and Urdu bistara derived from the root str to spread).

The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, vol. 3 (of 4) part 2 (of 2) |Valmiki
It was noticeable he spoke far clearer Urdu than long ago, under Zam-Zammah; but the father would allow no private talk.

Kim |Rudyard Kipling

British Dictionary definitions for urdu

Urdu

/ (ˈʊəduː, ˈɜː-) /

noun

an official language of Pakistan, also spoken in India. The script derives primarily from Persia. It belongs to the Indic branch of the Indo-European family of languages, being closely related to Hindi but containing many Arabic and Persian loan words

Word Origin for Urdu

C18: from Hindustani ( zabāni) urdū (language of the) camp, from Persian urdū camp, from Turkish ordū

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

Urdu

noun

Origin of Urdu

Example sentences from the Web for urdu

British Dictionary definitions for urdu

noun

Word Origin for Urdu