بھابی

Punjabi

Etymology

Inherited from Prakrit *𑀪𑀸𑀩𑁆𑀪 (*bhābbha), from baby talk.

Pronunciation

Noun

بھابی • (bhābīf (Gurmukhi spelling ਭਾਬੀ)

  1. sister-in-law (brother's wife)
    Synonym: بَھرْجَائی (bharjā'ī)

Declension

Declension of بھابی
singular plural
direct بھابی (bhābī) بھابِیاں (bhābīyāṉ)
oblique بھابی (bhābī) بھابِیاں (bhābīyāṉ)
vocative بھابِیے (bhābiye) بھابِیو (bhābīv)
ablative بھابِیوں (bhābīvṉ) بھابِیاں (bhābīyāṉ)
locative
instrumental

Further reading

  • Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002) “بھابی”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: ʻAzīz Pablisharz
  • ਭਾਬੀ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2025
  • Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “bhābbha”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press

Urdu

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Hindi بھابی (bhaby /⁠bhābī⁠/) (c. 1697)[1] and Middle Hindi بھابھی (bhabhy /⁠bhābhī⁠/), from Prakrit *𑀪𑀸𑀩𑁆𑀪 (*bhābbha), from baby talk.[2] Cognate with Punjabi بھابی (bhābī).

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Urdu) IPA(key): /bʱɑː.biː/
  • Rhymes: -iː
  • Hyphenation: بھا‧بی

Noun

بھابی • (bhābīf (Hindi spelling भाभी)

  1. sister-in-law (brother's wife)
    Synonym: بھاوَج (bhāvaj)
  2. (by extension) a friend's wife

Declension

Declension of بھابی
singular plural
direct بھابی (bhābī) بھابِیاں (bhābiyā̃)
oblique بھابی (bhābī) بھابِیوں (bhābiyō̃)
vocative بھابی (bhābī) بھابِیو (bhābiyō)

References

  1. ^ بھابی”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
  2. ^ Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “bhābbha”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press

Further reading

  • بھابی”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
  • Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “بهابی”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co., page 123
  • Platts, John T. (1884) “بهابي”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 177
  • S. W. Fallon (1879) “بھابی”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.