Message: "Re: Help with meaning and origin of a name"

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Re: Help with meaning and origin of a name

by তন্ময় ভট্টাচার্য্য (guest)

3/16/2017, 6:09 PM

in reply to a message by Loads of Randomness

Persian jamadar from Arabic جاما (collection) and Persian در (having) through Urdu and Hindi jamadar, a low-ranking position (lieutenant) in British Indian army, meaning shifting to a menial worker/sweeper/cleaner in north Indian languages today.

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- Loads of Randomness +2

3/17/2017, 2:58 PM

So in Urdu and Hindi it wasn't a name but a position in the British Indian Army?

Is it used as a name in Urdu/Hindi at all?

- তন্ময় ভট্টাচার্য্য (guest) +1

3/18/2017, 9:15 PM

I haven't heard it as a name in Hindi/Urdu. Whether it was ever used as a name, I can't tell.

- Loads of Randomness

4/6/2017, 5:21 PM

Ah, thank you!

- Sabertooth +2

3/17/2017, 12:31 PM

So, JAMADAR means "janitor" now?

- তন্ময় ভট্টাচার্য্য (guest) +1

3/18/2017, 9:22 PM

Actually more like cleaner/servant rather than doorman, and in the Indian context, far lower in the social hierarchy.

- Sabertooth

3/19/2017, 2:09 AM

In USA, a janitor is a cleaner rather than a doorman (as the etymology suggests).

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