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panchayat

noun pan·cha·yat
variants: or less commonly panchayet or punchayet \(ˌ)pənˈchäyət, -chīət\

Definition of panchayat

plural -s
1 :a village council in India:
a :a former group of five influential older men acknowledged by the community as its governing body
b :an elective council of about five members organized in the republic of India as an organ of village self-government
2 :a Parsi council of six dasturs and ten mobeds regulating secular affairs

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Origin and Etymology of panchayat

Hindi pañcāyat, from Sanskrit pañca five

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