zamindari

American

[zam-in-dahr-ee, zem-, zuh-meen-] / ˌzæm ɪnˈdɑr i, ˌzɛm-, zə min- /

Or zemindary

noun

plural

zamindaris

(in British India) the system of landholding and tax collection by zamindars.
(in British India) the office or territory held or administered by a zamindar.
(in Mogul India) the system of collecting farm revenue, a fixed sum based on the assigned district.

zamindari British

/ zəmiːnˈdɑːrɪ /

noun

(in India) a large agricultural estate

"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

Etymology

Origin of zamindari

First recorded in 1740–50; from Hindi or Urdu zamīndārī, from Persian zamīndārī, a derivative of zamīndār, equivalent of zamīn “land, ground”+ -dār a combining form meaning “holder” + -i noun suffix

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.

After independence, the new government took over the princely states and abolished the zamindari.

From Time Magazine Archive

The very spot on which the moonlight falls is my landed property, but the moonlight tells me that my zamindari is an illusion, and my zamindari tells me that this moonlight is all emptiness.

From Glimpses of Bengal Selected from the Letters of Sir Rabindranath Tagore by Tagore, Rabindranath

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023