Challenge: Nabob

Nov 23, 2008 00:31

nabob \NAY-bob\, noun:
1. a native ruler in India in the Mogul empire; by extension, a person from India who made a fortune there
2. a very wealthy and prominent person; mogul

by 1612, "deputy governor in Mogul Empire," Anglo-Indian, from Hindi nabab, from Arabic nuwwab, honorific plural of na'ib "viceroy, deputy." This word was also used of Europeans who came home from India having made a fortune there, hence "very rich man" (1760).
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