Etymology

punkahwallah

P3U1N1K5A1H4W4A1L1L1A1H4

Today it means: A servant who operates a punkah (type of fan). Full definition →

Hindi पंखावाला
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The story

  1. Hindi · borrowed fromपंखावाला
  2. English todaypunkahwallah

Borrowed from Hindi पंखावाला (paṅkhāvālā); also analyzable within English as punkah + wallah.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.