English

Noun

babu ‎(plural babus)

1. A Hindu title of respect, equivalent to Mr.; hence, a Hindu gentleman or official.
   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘His Chance in Life’, Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio 2005, p. 57:

     The Babu put on his cap and quietly dropped out of the window

   • 1934, George Orwell, Burmese Days, Chapter 2

     Office babus are the real rulers of this country now. Our number's up. Best thing we can do is to shut up shop and let 'em stew in their own juice.

Derived terms

• babudom
• babuism

Indonesian

Noun

babu

1. housemaid

See also

• jongo

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbabu]

Noun

babu

1. accusative singular of baba
2. instrumental singular of baba

Shabo

Adjective

babu

1. two

Swahili

Noun

babu (needs class)

1. grandfather (from either side)

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *papu. The initial b- was introduced by analogy with Russian боб ‎(bob).

Noun

babu

1. bean

Inflection

References

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “боб”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Yindjibarndi

Noun

babu

1. father