ख़ाक
See also: ख़ाकी
Hindi
Alternative forms
- खाक (khāk)
Etymology
Borrowed from Classical Persian خَاک (xāk).[1] First attested in c. 1421[2] as Old Hindi خاک (xak /xāk/), then as Middle Hindi خاک (xak /xāk/) (c. 1572).[2]
Pronunciation
- (Delhi) IPA(key): /xɑːk/, [xäːk], /kʰɑːk/, [kʰäːk]
- Rhymes: -ɑːk
- Hyphenation: ख़ाक
Noun
ख़ाक • (xāk) f (Urdu spelling خاک)[3]
- dust, ashes
- ख़ाक मेरी आँखें में घुस गई।
- xāk merī ā̃khẽ mẽ ghus gaī.
- The dust got into my eyes.
- (figuratively, attributive) useless, of no use
- after 1824, Ghalib 87.1:
- आबरू क्या ख़ाक उस गुल की कि गुलशन में नहीं
है गरेबाँ नंग-ए-पैराहन जो दामन में नहीं- ābrū kyā xāk us gul kī ki gulśan mẽ nahī̃
hai garebā̃ naṅg-e-pairāhan jo dāman mẽ nahī̃ - What uselessness is the honor [i.e. there is no honor] of the rose that is not in the garden
the collar is a shame to the robe if it is not in the hem
- ābrū kyā xāk us gul kī ki gulśan mẽ nahī̃
- आबरू क्या ख़ाक उस गुल की कि गुलशन में नहीं
- 2011, “मधुबाला [madhubālā]”, in Irshad Kamil (lyrics), Sohail Sen (music), Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (soundtrack), performed by Ali Zafar, Sreerama Chandra, and Shweta Pandit:
- अरे, थक गए क्या?
अरे भैया, यूपी आए और साला ढोल नहीं बजा
तो क्या ख़ाक यूपी आए।- are, thak gae kyā?
are bhaiyā, yūpī āe aur sālā ḍhol nahī̃ bajā
to kyā xāk yūpī āe. - What, are you tired?
Hey brother, you came to Uttar Pradesh, and the damn dhol did not play
Then, what uselessness was it to come [i.e. there was no use in coming] to Uttar Pradesh
- are, thak gae kyā?
Declension
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| direct | ख़ाक xāk |
ख़ाकें xākẽ |
| oblique | ख़ाक xāk |
ख़ाकों xākõ |
| vocative | ख़ाक xāk |
ख़ाको xāko |
Derived terms
- ख़ाकी (xākī)
References
More information
- ^ Kuczkiewicz-Fraś, Agnieszka (2008) “kẖāk”, in Perso-Arabic Loanwords in Hindustani, Part 1 Dictionary, Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka, →ISBN, page 474.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 “خاک”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
- ^ “ख़ाक”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.