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Webster 1913 Edition


Nabob

Na′bob

(nā′bŏb)
,
Noun.
[Hind.
nawāb
, from Ar.
nawāb
, pl. of
nāïb
a vicegerent, governor. Cf
Nawab
.]
1.
A deputy or viceroy in India; a governor of a province of the ancient Mogul empire.
2.
One who returns to Europe from the East with immense riches: hence, any man of great wealth.
“A bilious old nabob.”
Macaulay.

Webster 1828 Edition


Nabob

NABOB

,
Noun.
1.
A deputy or prince in India, subordinate to the Subahs; hence,
2.
A man of great wealth.

Definition 2024


nabob

nabob

See also: nábob

English

Noun

nabob (plural nabobs)

  1. An Indian ruler within the Mogul empire; a nawab.
  2. (by extension) Someone of great wealth or importance.
    • 2013 June 22, Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:
      Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.
  3. (by extension) A person with a grandiose style or manner.

Translations

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:wealthy

Derived terms

  • Nob Hill (San Francisco)

References

  • Nabobs: A Study of the Social Life of the English in the Eighteenth-Century, Percival Spear, Oxford University Press, London 1938; New Edition OUP, USA: 1998.
  • Durham's Place-Names of the San Francisco Bay Area, David L. Durham, Quill Driver Books, California: 2000.