Urdu

noun

: an Indo-Aryan language that has the same colloquial basis as standard Hindi, is an official language of Pakistan, and is widely used by Muslims in urban areas of India

Examples of Urdu in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In Chicago, voters can choose to vote in one of 12 languages on touchscreen machines: English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Korean, Tagalog, Gujarati, Urdu, Arabic, Ukrainian, and Russian. Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 30 Sep. 2024 At an intersection, we got caught between a pair of old red buses, both decorated with South Asian psychedelia—the intricate leaf-and-petal patterns, the Himalayan idylls, the elephants and lotus flowers surrounded by Urdu script, the hanging fringes. Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2024 Pakistani Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif’s belligerent, rapid-fire Urdu tweets on the U.S. sanctions, which pronounced the death of the alliance, are a good illustration of how this domestic focus could make compromise with the United States difficult. Shuja Nawaz, Foreign Affairs, 10 Jan. 2018 Adnan Sami Hailed as the Sultan of Music by the Times of India and awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, Adnan Sami performs Indian and Western music in Hindi, Urdu, English, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 28 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for Urdu 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Urdu.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Hindi & Urdu urdū, from Persian zabān-e-urdū-e-muallā language of the Exalted Camp (the imperial bazaar in Delhi)

First Known Use

1796, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Urdu was in 1796

Dictionary Entries Near Urdu

Cite this Entry

“Urdu.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Urdu. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

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