nawab
/nəˈwɑːb/ noun
Forms nawabs
- noun (historical) A Muslim official in South Asia acting as a provincial deputy ruler under the Mughal empire; a local governor.
- noun Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Polyura (possibly a subgenus of genus Charaxes).
Synonyms
Etymology
From Hindi नवाब (navāb)/Urdu نواب (navāb), from Persian نوّاب (navvâb), ultimately from Arabic نُوَّاب (nuwwāb), plural of نَائِب (nāʔib, “naib”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A deputy ruler or viceroy in India; also, a title given by courtesy to other persons of high rank in the East.
Etymology [See Nabob.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nawab”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details