بچہ

Borrowed from Classical Persian بَچَّه (bačča), from Proto-Iranian *wacáh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *watsás, from Proto-Indo-European *wétos + *-ós.

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /bət͡ʃ.t͡ʃäː/, [bɐt͡ʃ.t͡ʃäː]
• Rhymes: -äː

بَچَّہ • (baccah) m (feminine بَچّی, Gurmukhi spelling ਬੱਚਾ)

1. kid
2. child, boy (of any creature)
3. unborn child; fetus
4. young (of an animal)
5. (figuratively) the result, creation

بَچَّہ • (baccah) (feminine بچی, Gurmukhi spelling ਬੱਚਾ)

1. (figuratively, belittling) stupid; kid
2. (figuratively, belittling) unaware, inexperienced
3. (figuratively, belittling) immature

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002) “بچّہ”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: ʻAzīz Pablisharz
• Bashir, Kanwal (2012) “بچہ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Hyattsville, MD: Dunwoody Press
• “ਬੱਚਾ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2025

Borrowed from Classical Persian بَچَّه (bačča), from Middle Persian wck' (waččag, “child, baby, cub”), from Proto-Iranian *wacáh (“calf”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *watsás.

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /bət̪.t͡ʃɑ(ː)/

بَچَّہ • (bacca) m (feminine بَچّی (baccī), Hindi spelling बच्चा)

1. baby; kid, child (of any gender)
2. baby boy (of any creature)
3. young (of an animal)
4. (figuratively) the result, creation
5. a sapling, young plant

بَچَّہ • (bacca) (feminine بَچّی (baccī), Hindi spelling बच्चा)

1. (figuratively, belittling) stupid; kid
2. (figuratively, belittling) unaware, inexperienced

This term can be used to refer to a child or kid generally, or more specifically a male child, however for the latter sense, the term لَڑْکا (laṛkā) is more direct.

• “بچہ”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “بچہ”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “بچہ”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.