India
1 Americannoun
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Official Name Republic of India. Hindi Bharat. a republic in South Asia comprising 28 states and 8 union territories: formerly a British colony that gained independence 1947, becoming a parliamentary republic within the Commonwealth of Nations 1950. 1,269,219 square miles (3,287,263 square kilometers). New Delhi.
noun
noun
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Hindi name: Bharat. a republic in S Asia: history dates from the Indus Valley civilization (3rd millennium bc ); came under British supremacy in 1763 and passed to the British Crown in 1858; nationalist movement arose under Gandhi (1869–1948); Indian subcontinent divided into Pakistan (Muslim) and India (Hindu) in 1947; became a republic within the Commonwealth in 1950. It consists chiefly of the Himalayas, rising over 7500 m (25 000 ft) in the extreme north, the Ganges plain in the north, the Thar Desert in the northwest, the Chota Nagpur plateau in the northeast, and the Deccan Plateau in the south. Official and administrative languages: Hindi and English; each state has its own language. Parts of the SE coast suffered badly in the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. Religion: Hindu majority, Muslim minority. Currency: rupee. Capital: New Delhi. Pop: 1 220 800 359 (2013 est). Area: 3 268 100 sq km (1 261 813 sq miles)
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communications a code word for the letter i
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Despite world disapproval, in 1998 India successfully conducted nuclear bomb tests. Pakistan did the same two weeks later. (See Kashmir.)
The country is marked by conflict between the Hindu and Muslim populations and violence between castes.
India is the second most populous country in the world, after China.
British control of India began in 1757 and did not end until the dissolution of the British regime, or Raj, in 1947, when India was divided into India and Pakistan.
Mahatma Gandhi led the movement for Indian independence through passive resistance to British rule. He was killed by a fanatic in 1948.
Etymology
Origin of India1
First recorded before 1000; from Latin, from Greek Indía, equivalent to Ind(ós) “the Indus river” (from Old Persian Hindu, literally, “the river”; cognate with Sanskrit sindhu ) + -ia -ia
Origin of India2
First recorded in 1950–55
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.
Some were already prominent: Isamu Noguchi was a well-established sculptor, while George Nakashima was a trained architect who had worked in India.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2026
The breakthrough, published in Nature Chemistry, was led by Professor Holger Braunschweig and his team, with computational support from researchers led by Professor Ashwini K. Phukan at Tezpur University in India.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
When the series first aired in 1987, Sunday mornings across India took on an almost devotional stillness.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
"It's a very original telling of a very original story from India, and it makes no compromises in that regard. It keeps it authentically Indian," Malhotra said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
His most famous student, Alexander the Great, spread the doctrine as far east as India before Alexander’s untimely death in 323 BC.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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