Meanings
plural buzurgs
- BangladeshIndiaPakistanSouth AsiaAn honoured elder or superior.
In an area such as Malerkotla, where there are dozens of tomb shrines to these buzurgs, the belief is that the wilayat is well fortified against all dangers.
2010, Anna Bigelow, Sharing the Sacred: Practicing Pluralism in Muslim North India, page 136
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*weǵ-
- Proto-Indo-Iranian*wáȷ́rakas“endowed with strength”
- Old Persian𐎺𐏀𐎼𐎣“great, large”
- Middle Persian𐭥𐭰𐭥𐭫𐭢
- Classical Persianبُزُرْگ
- Urduبُزُرْگ
- Hindiबुज़ुर्ग
- Englishbuzurg
Borrowed from Hindustani (Hindi बुज़ुर्ग (buzurg) / Urdu بُزُرْگ (buzurg), from Classical Persian بُزُرْگ (buzurg), from Middle Persian 𐭥𐭰𐭥𐭫𐭢 (wazurg, wuzurg), from Old Persian 𐎺𐏀𐎼𐎣 (vazạrka, “great, large”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *wáȷ́rakas (“endowed with strength”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ-. Doublet of vajra and waker. Further related through the same Indo-European root to vigil, vigor, and vegetable.
More words from Hindi, Urdu, Classical Persian
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
buzurg. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buzurg
“buzurg.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buzurg. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “buzurg,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buzurg.
Source: buzurg on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.