qui-hi

interjection

An Anglo-Indian call for a servant.

Meanings

qui-hi1

interjection
  1. IndiahistoricalAn Anglo-Indian call for a servant.

    That he had seen service in India was, indeed, probable by his referring to lunch as tiffin, and calling to his parlourmaid with the ejaculation of “Qui-hi.”

    1922, Edward Frederic Benson, Miss Mapp, Chapter 1
nounqui-hi (plural qui-his)

plural qui-his · alternative Qui-hi · alternative Qui-Hi · alternative Qui-hye · alternative Qui-Hye

  1. IndiacolloquialhistoricalAn Anglo-Indian in Bengal.

    […] would find themselves at Galle regarded as interlopers by the Bengal "qui-his," as they are called, or high and mighty Anglo-Indians.

    1879, Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York, page 107
    1 more example

    The slang distinctive name for gentlemen belonging to the Bombay service; the correlative of the Mulls of Madras and the Qui-His of Bengal.

    1968, Demetrius Charles de Kavanagh Boulger, Asian Review, page 134

Qui-hi2

nounQui-hi (plural Qui-his)

plural Qui-his

  1. alternativeAlternative form of qui-hi.

Qui-Hi3

nounQui-Hi (plural Qui-His)

plural Qui-His

  1. alternativeAlternative form of qui-hi.

Origin

  1. Hindiकोई है“is anyone there?”
  2. Englishqui-hi

Borrowed from Hindi कोई है (koī hai, “is anyone there?”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

qui-hi. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/qui-hi

MLA

“qui-hi.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/qui-hi. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “qui-hi,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/qui-hi.

Source: qui-hi on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.