Punjab
Americannoun
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a former province in NW British India: now divided between India and Pakistan.
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a state in NW India. 47,456 sq. mi. (122,911 sq. km). Chandigarh.
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a province in NE Pakistan. 19,445 sq. mi. (50,362 sq. km). Lahore.
noun
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(formerly) a province in NW British India: divided between India and Pakistan in 1947
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a state of NW India: reorganized in 1966 as a Punjabi-speaking state, a large part forming the new state of Haryana; mainly agricultural. Capital: Chandigarh. Pop: 24 289 296 (2001). Area: 50 255 sq km (19 403 sq miles)
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a province of W Pakistan: created in 1947. Capital: Lahore. Pop: 82 710 000 (2003 est). Area: 205 344 sq km (127 595 sq miles)
Etymology
Origin of Punjab
First recorded in 1830–35; from Hindi, Urdu Panjāb, from Persian panj âb, literally “(land of) five waters, five rivers” (the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas, tributaries of the Indus)
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.
Cockfosters beat Kent-based Punjab United 3-1 on aggregate over two legs in last month's semi-finals to book their place in the final.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
Gill gravitates toward old Punjabi music — the folk songs and ballads of artists like Kuldeep Manak and Yamla Jatt, whose music carries within it the myths, legends, and rural views of Punjab.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026
In 2019 she traveled across India collecting samples and bought them back to her base in Haryana, in the northwestern state of Punjab, to compare their performance.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
That same conversation, in different languages about different crops, is being replicated from the Punjab in India to Italy’s Po Valley and Brazil’s Cerrado.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
Colonel Arbuthnot talked of the Punjab, and occasionally asked the girl a few questions about Baghdad where it became clear that she had been in a post as governess.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
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.
