बंदी

• बन्दी (bandī)

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /bən.d̪iː/, [bɐ̃n̪.d̪iː]
• Rhymes: -ənd̪iː

Borrowed from Classical Persian بندی (bandī, “bound, chained, imprisoned”); influenced by Classical Sanskrit बन्दिन् (bandin), also ultimately from Iranian.

बंदी • (bandī) m (feminine बंदिनी, Urdu spelling بندی)

1. prisoner, captive

   Synonym: क़ैदी (qaidī)

   बंदी बनाना ― bandī banānā ― to imprison (literally, “to make a prisoner”)

   आज केवल एक बंदी को कारागार से रिहा किया रहा।

   āj keval ek bandī ko kārāgār se rihā kiyā rahā.

   Today only one prisoner was released from jail.

बंदा (bandā) +‎ -ई (-ī, feminine suffix).

बंदी • (bandī) f (masculine बंदा, Urdu spelling بندی)

1. (earlier chiefly Delhi and Punjab) girl, woman

   Synonyms: औरत (aurat), नारी (nārī), स्त्री (strī), महिला (mahilā)

2. (by extension, slang) girlfriend

   Synonym: प्रेमिका (premikā)

3. (archaic) a female servant, slave; sometimes used to refer to oneself humbly

   यह बंदी ― yah bandī ― this servant

From बंद (band, “closed, shut, stopped; captive”) +‎ -ई (-ī, forms abstract nouns from adjectives).

बंदी • (bandī) f (Urdu spelling بندی)

1. stopping, shutting, closing (as a shop)

   नोटबंदी ― noṭbandī ― demonetization (literally, “stopping of notes”)

2. captivity, prison

   Synonym: कारावास (kārāvās)

   • 2023, Dr. Richa Tiwari, सिंधिया स्थापत्य [sindhiyā sthāpatya], BFC Publications, →ISBN, page 57:

     उसने राजकुमार को बंदियों में रखा।

     usne rājkumār ko bandiyõ mẽ rakhā.

     She kept the prince in prisons.

From बंद (band), from Classical Persian بند (band, “band, fastening”).

बंदी • (bandī) f (Urdu spelling بندی)

1. (regional) a kind of ornament worn on the forehead

Borrowed from Sanskrit बन्दिन् (bandin), वन्दिन् (vandin, “praiser, bard”), from the root वन्द् (vand).

बंदी • (bandī) m (Urdu spelling بندی)

1. (rare) bard, one who praises or extols

• Dāsa, Śyāmasundara (1965–1975) “बंदी”, in Hindī Śabdasāgara [lit. Sea of Hindi words] (in Hindi), Kashi [Varanasi]: Nagari Pracarini Sabha, page 3331
• Platts, John T. (1884) “बन्दी”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 171
• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “बंदी”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press, page 692
• Bahri, Hardev (1989) “बंदी”, in Siksarthi Hindi-Angrejhi Sabdakosa [Learners' Hindi-English Dictionary], Delhi: Rajpal & Sons, page 431.
• Caturvedi, Mahendra, Bhola Nath Tiwari (1970) “बंदी”, in A practical Hindi-English dictionary, Delhi: National Publishing House, page 490
• “बंदी”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.

From बंद (banda, “stopped”) +‎ -ई (-ī).

• IPA^(key): /bən.d̪i/, [bən.d̪iː]

बंदी • (bandī) f

1. ban, prohibition

   दारूबंदी

   dārūbandī

   Alcohol ban

• Berntsen, Maxine (1982–1983) “बंदी”, in A Basic Marathi-English Dictionary, New Delhi: American Institute of Indian Studies