Punjab

American  

[puhn-jahb, puhn-jahb] / pʌnˈdʒɑb, ˈpʌn dʒɑb /

noun

1. a former province in NW British India: now divided between India and Pakistan.

2. a state in NW India. 47,456 sq. mi. (122,911 sq. km). Chandigarh.

3. a province in NE Pakistan. 19,445 sq. mi. (50,362 sq. km). Lahore.

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Punjab British  

/ pʌnˈdʒɑːb, ˈpʌndʒɑːb /

noun

1. (formerly) a province in NW British India: divided between India and Pakistan in 1947

2. 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)

3. 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)

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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

Adam Saqib, 19, from Roseville — a city 400 miles from Los Angeles in North California — whose parents emigrated from the Punjab province of Pakistan, grew up without Punjabi culture in the U.S..

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 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

Rana was an engineering student at Punjab University in Chandigarh when he fell from the fourth-flour balcony of his paying guest accommodation.

From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026

Dozens of tankers, which supply fuel across Pakistan, were seen parked at the side of the road on Tuesday at depots near Lahore, the capital of Punjab, the country's most populous province.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

The long coat and swinging chain and the Punjab pants were much more dramatic if you stood that way.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey