baksheesh
or bak·shish, bak·shis
[bak-sheesh, bak-sheesh](in the Near and Middle East)
- a tip, present, or gratuity.
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- to give a tip.
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Origin of baksheesh
First recorded in 1615–25, baksheesh is from the Persian word bakhshish gift
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bakshish
Historical Examples
Bakshish they call it here too; that word accompanies you round the world!
Round the Wonderful WorldG. E. Mitton
"Your nobility will remember the bakshish," said one of them to Ahmed as they started.
Barclay of the GuidesHerbert Strang
The Arabs who live in the mud hovels you see, raise fine vegetables here; and, like all Arabs, they will expect a bakshish.
Asiatic BreezesOliver Optic
Still more men and boys were gazing up at the ship and calling loudly for "bakshish."
The 28th: A Record of War Service in the Australian Imperial Force, 1915-19, Vol. IHerbert Brayley Collett
My husband said he would pay for the twenty days and they would thus have thirty dollars as bakshish.
Southern ArabiaTheodore Bent
baksheesh
backsheesh
(in some Eastern countries, esp formerly)
- money given as a tip, a present, or alms
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- to give such money to (a person)
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Word Origin
C17: from Persian bakhshīsh, from bakhshīdan to give; related to Sanskrit bhaksati he enjoys
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for bakshish
baksheesh
n.
1620s, in India, Egypt, etc., "a tip," from Persian bakhshish, literally "gift," from verb bakhshidan "to give" (also "to forgive"), from PIE root *bhag- "to share out, apportion, distribute" (see -phagous).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper