Etymology · Classical Persian
سِپَاهِی
2 English words descend from Classical Persian سِپَاهِی, most common first.
- sepoyA native soldier of the East Indies, employed in the service of a European colonial power, notably the British India army (first under the British-chartered East India Company, later in the crown colony), but also France and Portugal.
- spahiAn Ottoman (Turkish empire) cavalryman, especially as recruited under a land-based system.