Indus

In·dus
I1N1D2U1S1
Australia, Canada, US, UK, Scotland/ˈɪn.dəs/New Zealand/ˈən.dəs/India/ˈɪn.ɖəs/

proper noun

A major river in China, India and Pakistan, rising in Tibet and flowing into the Arabian Sea.

OriginLatin Indus ← Ancient Greek Ἰνδός ← Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 →
Less commonScrabble 6
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Meanings

Indus1

proper noun
  1. A major river in China, India and Pakistan, rising in Tibet and flowing into the Arabian Sea.

    In summer the Indus can spread as wide as five miles, covering most oft the valley seen here.

    1987 October, Galen Rowell, “Baltistan: The 20th Century Comes to Shangri-la”, in National Geographic, volume 172, number 4, pages 528-529
    2 more examples

    The mighty Indus River that courses through Pakistan's second-most populous region is fed by dozens of mountain tributaries to the north, but many have burst their banks following record rains and glacier melt.

    2022 August 28, “Pakistan's south braces for another deluge as northern rivers swell”, in France 24, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2022, Asia / Pacific

    Floods in the river Sutlej – which originates in Tibet and crosses India before merging into the Indus river – has completely cut off several villages and areas in Pakistan, submerging hundreds of hectares of farmland.

    2023 August 29, “Pakistan raises flood alert in eastern region as over 128,000 evacuated”, in EFE, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2024

Indus2

proper noun
  1. astronomyA constellation of the southern sky between Grus and Pavo.

Indus3

proper noun
  1. A hamlet in Alberta, Canada.

Origin

Indus · proper noun

  1. Proto-Indo-Iranian*síndʰuš
  2. Proto-Iranian*hínduš
  3. Old Persian𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁
  4. Ancient GreekἸνδός
  5. LatinIndus
  6. EnglishIndus

Borrowed from Latin Indus, from Ancient Greek Ἰνδός (Indós), from Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 (h-i-du-u-š /⁠hiⁿduš⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *hínduš (compare Avestan 𐬵𐬌𐬧𐬛𐬎 (hiṇdu)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš or borrowed from Sanskrit सिन्धु (síndhu) (whence Sindh). Another explication relates the origin of Indus to Indra which itself derives from the root indu, i.e. " water place or water spirit".

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek, Old Persian

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Indus · proper noun

  1. LatinIndus“Indian”
  2. EnglishIndus

Named by Dutch explorers Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman between 1595 and 1597. From Latin Indus (“Indian”), commemorating American Indians.

More words from Latin

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Indus · proper noun

Clipping of industry.

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Translations

Afrikaans Indus
  • Industhe river
Arabic نَهْر الْسِنْد, الْهِنْدِيّ
  • نَهْر الْسِنْد (nahr al-sind)the river
  • الْهِنْدِيّ (al-hindiyy)constellation
Basque Indus
  • Industhe river
Bengali সিন্ধু
  • সিন্ধু (śindhu)the river
Bulgarian Инд
  • Инд (Ind)the river
Catalan Indus
  • Industhe river
Chinese Mandarin 印度河
  • 印度河 (Yìndù Hé)the river
Czech Indus
  • Industhe river
Danish Indus
  • Industhe river
Dutch Indus
  • Industhe river
Esperanto Induso, Indiano
  • Indusothe river
  • Indianoconstellation
Estonian Indus, Indiaanlane
  • Industhe river
  • Indiaanlaneconstellation
Finnish Indus, Intiaani
  • Industhe river
  • Intiaaniconstellation
French Indus, Indien
  • Industhe river
  • Indienconstellation
German Indus, Indianer
  • Industhe river
  • Indianerconstellation
  • Inderconstellation
Greek Ινδός
  • Ινδός (Indós)the river
Hebrew אינדוס
  • אינדוס (Indus)the river
Hindi सिन्धु, सिन्ध
  • सिन्धु (sindhu)the river
  • सिन्ध (sindh)the river
  • सिंधु (sindhu)the river
  • सिंध (sindh)the river
  • सिन्ध नदी (sindh nadī)the river
  • सिंध नदी (sindh nadī)the river
Hungarian Indus, Hindu
  • Industhe river
  • Hinduconstellation
Icelandic Indus
  • Industhe river
Indonesian Indus
  • Industhe river
Irish An Iondúis, an tIndiach
  • An Iondúisthe river
  • an tIndiachconstellation
Italian Indo
  • Indothe river
Japanese インダス川, インディアン座
  • インダス川 (Indasu-gawa)the river
  • インディアン座 (indianza)constellation
Korean 인더스 강
  • 인더스 강the river
Latin Indus
  • Industhe river
Latvian Inda
  • Indathe river
Lithuanian Indas
  • Indasthe river
Malay Indus
  • Industhe river
Norwegian Bokmål Indus
  • Industhe river
Persian سند
  • سند (send)the river
Polish Indus, Indianin
  • Industhe river
  • Indianinconstellation
Portuguese Indo
  • Indothe river
Punjabi ਸਿੰਧ, سِنْدھ
  • ਸਿੰਧ (sindh)the river
  • سِنْدھ (sindh)the river
Romanian Ind
  • Indthe river
Russian Инд, Инде́ец
  • Инд (Ind)the river
  • Инде́ец (Indéjec)constellation
Slovak Indus
  • Industhe river
Spanish Indo, Indus
  • Indothe river
  • Indusconstellation
Swedish Indus
  • Industhe river
Tamil சிந்து
  • சிந்து (cintu)the river
Thai สินธุ
  • สินธุ (sǐn-tú)the river
Turkish İndus
  • İndusthe river
Ukrainian Інд
  • Інд (Ind)the river
Urdu سِنْدھ, دریائے سندھ
  • سِنْدھ (sindh)the river
  • دریائے سندھ (dariyā-ē sindh)the river
Vietnamese Sông Ấn
  • Sông Ấnthe river

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

nidusDinus
Cite this entry
APA

Indus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Indus

MLA

“Indus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Indus. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Indus,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Indus.

Source: Indus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.