nautch
/nɔːtʃ/ noun
Forms nautches
- noun (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Asia, historical, obsolete) A dance in the Indian subcontinent, performed by professional dancing girls.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindustani (Hindi नाच (nāc) / Urdu ناچ (nāc)), in turn derived from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀡𑀘𑁆𑀘 (ṇacca), ultimately derived from Sanskrit नृत्य (nṛtya), which was originally नृत्त (nṛttá) (also see नृत्यति (nṛtyati, “to dance”)).
Webster’s 1913
- noun An entertainment consisting chiefly of dancing by professional dancing (or Nautch) girls. [India]
Etymology [Hind. nach, fr. Skr. n dance.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nautch”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details