memsahib

[ mem-sahb; mem-sah-ib, ‐hib, ‐heeb ]

/ ˈmɛm sɑb; ˈmɛm sɑ ɪb, ‐hɪb, ‐hib /

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noun

(formerly, in India) a term of respect for a married European woman.

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Origin of memsahib

First recorded in 1855–60; from Hindi, equivalent to mem (from English ma'am) + sāhib “master” (from Arabic ṣāḥib )

Words nearby memsahib

memory verse, Memphian, Memphis, Memphite, Memphremagog, memsahib, men, menace, menacing, menacme, menad

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use memsahib in a sentence

The Collector's memsahib had gone off with the doctor, leaving her little child to the tender mercies of an ayah!
Banked Fires|E. W. (Ethel Winifred) Savi
The nephew does things very shabbily, and I think the Memsahib must help him.
The Works of Rudyard Kipling: One Volume Edition|Rudyard Kipling
"Memsahib" was heard in every direction, for the arrival of a party of supposedly rich Americans50 had been duly heralded.
Travels in the Far East|Ellen Mary Hayes Peck
It was the strange Memsahib, the khansammah observed to himself.
Caravans By Night|Harry Hervey

Had the memsahib been slain, she had at least died in full view of the English—and there was a battle to be won.
Told in the East|Talbot Mundy

British Dictionary definitions for memsahib

memsahib

/ (ˈmɛmˌsɑːɪb, -hɪb) /

noun

(formerly in India) a term of respect used of a European married woman

Word Origin for memsahib

C19: from ma'am + sahib

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