sahib

[ sahb; sah-ib, -hib, ‐heeb ]

noun
  1. (in India) sir; master: a term of respect used, especially during the colonial period, when addressing or referring to a European.

  2. Sa·hib . singular of Ashab.

Origin of sahib

1
First recorded in 1690–1700; from Urdu, from Arabic ṣāḥib “master,” literally, “friend”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sahib in a sentence

  • Did the sahibs fully observe the stone which was hurled upon the savages?

  • Only, the second faquir, whom the Sahibs beat senseless, was the man who came to search thy bulkhead at Lahore.

    Kim | Rudyard Kipling
  • Kim's business, said the old man as they ate cakes together, was to get all the wisdom of the Sahibs and then he would see.

    Kim | Rudyard Kipling
  • No matter what thy wisdom learned among Sahibs, when we come to my River thou wilt be freed from all illusion—at my side.

    Kim | Rudyard Kipling
  • Therefore they were poor Sahibs, and ignorant; for no sahib in his senses would follow a Bengali's advice.

    Kim | Rudyard Kipling

British Dictionary definitions for sahib

sahib

saheb (ˈsɑːhɛb)

/ (ˈsɑːhɪb) /


noun
  1. (in India) a form of address or title placed after a man's name or designation, used as a mark of respect

Origin of sahib

1
C17: from Urdu, from Arabic çāhib, literally: friend

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