Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Used as a form of address for a European woman in South Asia.
  • noun A European woman in colonial India.
  • noun A female mountaineer employing Sherpas or porters in the Himalayas.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In India, a European lady; the mistress of a household: so called by native servants.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Lady; mistress; -- used by Hindustani-speaking natives in India in addressing European women.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun formerly, a term of respect for a female white European in colonial India

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a woman sahib

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[ma'am + sahib.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From ma'am + sahib

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