khansamah
Americannoun
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a house steward or butler.
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a male servant.
Etymology
Origin of khansamah
First recorded in 1635–45; from Hindi khānsāmā,̃ from Persian khānsāmān, equivalent to khān “master” + sāmān “stores”
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.
An aged, talkative, and amiable khansamah met him at the threshold with expressions of exaggerated respect, no doubt genuine enough, and followed him, a mumbling shadow, as the Virginian made a brief round of inspection.
From The Bronze Bell by Vance, Louis Joseph
These bungalows are under the direction of a khansamah, or native butler, who hires a small corps of servants to attend the wants of travelers.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 15, No. 89, May, 1875 by Various
Mrs. Smart bewailed the bygone day when every servant in her house was a Government Chupprassee except the khansamah and a Portuguese ayah.
From Behind the Bungalow by Aitken, Edward Hamilton
But presently cometh mine host of the inn, And soon from the murghi's there issues a din, The heartless khansamah he cares not a jot, The dechie is here, but the murghi is not.
From Indian and Other Tales by Hope, M. L.
The khansamah drew close the shades, and with the other left the room in semi-dusk.
From The Bronze Bell by Vance, Louis Joseph
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.