धोबी

Hindi

Etymology

From धोब (dhob, “a wash”) +‎ -ई (-ī), from Prakrit [script needed] (*dhovvaï), a passive form of Prakrit [script needed] (*dhauvati), ultimately from Sanskrit धाव् (dhāv, “to rinse, cleanse”). Cognate with Punjabi ਧੋਬੀ (dhobī), Gujarati ધોબી (dhobī), Marathi धोबी (dhobī).

Pronunciation

(Delhi) IPA^(key): /d̪ʱoː.biː/

Noun

धोबी • (dhobī) m (feminine धोबिन, Urdu spelling دھوبی)

washerman

Declension

Declension of *धोबी* (masc ī-stem)
	singular	plural
direct	धोबी dhobī	धोबी dhobī
oblique	धोबी dhobī	धोबियों dhobiyõ
vocative	धोबी dhobī	धोबियो dhobiyo

Derived terms

धोबी का कुत्ता (dhobī kā kuttā)
धोबी का कुत्ता न घर का न घाट का (dhobī kā kuttā na ghar kā na ghāṭ kā)
धोबी घाट (dhobī ghāṭ)
धोबी पछाड़ (dhobī pachāṛ)
धोबी पाट (dhobī pāṭ)
धोबी-ख़ाना (dhobī-xānā)
धोबी-घर (dhobī-ghar)
धोबीगिरी (dhobīgirī)

Descendants

→ Burmese: ဒိုဘီ (duibhi)
→ English: dhobi
→ Malay: dobi
→ Swahili: dobi

References

Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “*dhauvati”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press