नाचीज़

Hindi

Alternative forms

नाचीज (nācīj) — nuqtaless form

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian (nāčīz).^[1] By surface analysis, ना- (nā-) +‎ चीज़ (cīz). First attested in c. 1638^[2] as Middle Hindi ناچیز (nacyz /⁠nācīz⁠/).

Pronunciation

(Delhi) IPA^(key): /nɑː.t͡ʃiːz/, [näː.t͡ʃiːz], /nɑː.t͡ʃiːd͡ʒ/, [näː.t͡ʃiːd͡ʒ]
Rhymes: -iːz
Hyphenation: ना‧चीज़

Adjective

नाचीज़ • (nācīz) (indeclinable, Urdu spelling ناچِیز)^[3]^[4]

insignificant, worthless or useless (of a person or object)

Noun

नाचीज़ • (nācīz) m (Urdu spelling ناچِیز)^[3]^[4]

(humble) insignificant, worthless or useless person or object
- 2000, कहो ना प्यार है [kaho nā pyār hai, Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai] (motion picture), spoken by Raj Chopra and Sonia Saxena (Hrithik Roshan and Ameesha Patel), New Zealand:
  सोनिया
      कौन हैं आप?
  राज
      इस कनीज़ को, uh, मेरा मतलब है इस नाचीज़ को राज चोपड़ा कहते हैं। अजीब इत्तिफ़ाक़ है। I mean if I’m not mistaken, यह हमारी दूसरी मुलाक़ात है।
  soniyā
      kaun ha͠i āp?
  rāj
      is kanīz ko, uh, merā matlab hai is nācīz ko rāj copṛā kahte ha͠i. ajīb ittifāq hai. I mean if I’m not mistaken, yah hamārī dūsrī mulāqāt hai.
  Sonia
      Who are you?
  Raj
      This maidservant, uh, what I mean is this insignificant person is called Raj Chopra. [This] is a strange coincidence. If I’m not mistaken, this is our second meeting.

Declension

Declension of *नाचीज़* (masc cons-stem)
	singular	plural
direct	नाचीज़ nācīz	नाचीज़ nācīz
oblique	नाचीज़ nācīz	नाचीज़ों nācīzõ
vocative	नाचीज़ nācīz	नाचीज़ो nācīzo

References

More information

^ Kuczkiewicz-Fraś, Agnieszka (2008) “nācīz”, in Perso-Arabic Loanwords in Hindustani, Part 1 Dictionary, Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka, →ISBN, page 641.
^ “ناچیز”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “ना-”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press, page 549
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 “नाचीज़”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.

Further reading

More information

Platts, John T. (1884) “نا”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 1111
John Shakespear (1834) “نا”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC, page 1739