Urdu
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does Urdu mean? Urdu is the official language of Pakistan. It is derived from the older Hindustani language, and the written form uses Persian-Arabic letters. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a south Asian country with Afghanistan to its north and India to its south. Urdu is a member of the Indic family of languages, which includes other languages spoken by culture groups in Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. Urdu is recognized by Pakistan as the official language and it is the fifth most common language spoken in the country.
Etymology
Origin of Urdu
< Urdu, Hindi urdū, extracted from Persian zabān i urdū literally, language of the camp (ultimately < Turkic; see horde)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Recordings, paintings, manuscripts and more reveal how songs in Persian, Urdu, Classical Hindi and Punjabi spread throughout the Mughal Empire and across the network of the East India Company from the 16th century onward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
It also means, in Urdu, your loyalty or your allegiance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
But in the wake of the Gorton and Denton by-election in February she said it was "appalling that separatist campaigning was carried out in Urdu by the Green Party".
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
"Bengalis who live in Karachi mostly speak Urdu," he said, adding: "We don't have our own culture now".
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
People in India always say Urdu is this sweet language of poetry, but to me, Urdu just sounds like my parents.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
