memsahib
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of memsahib
First recorded in 1855–60; from Hindi, equivalent to mem (from English ma'am ) + sāhib “master” (from Arabic ṣāḥib )
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.
And would have, if the memsahib hadn’t shot me a glance that said, Dear, why don’t we move on from the heron?
From Forbes ● Jun. 4, 2013
Deborah Kerr is very pukka memsahib, and Barry Nelson displays his boyish charm, though the patina of age has begun to dull it.
From Time Magazine Archive
I pretended to know what a memsahib is.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
"It is the Lion Dance, memsahib," Cazi Moto told her in a low voice.
From The Leopard Woman by White, Stewart Edward
In those days I rode seventy miles with an English memsahib and her babe on my saddle-bow.
From Kim by Kipling, Rudyard
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.
