cutcherry

C3U1T1C3H4E1R1R1Y4

noun

An administration office in India.

Scrabble 19

Meanings

nouncutcherry (plural cutcherries)

plural cutcherries · alternative cutchery · alternative katcheri · alternative katcherry · alternative kacheri

  1. An administration office in India.

    The cutcherry clerks and the police are with him everywhere; higher native officials are often on his side.

    1914, George Robert Aberigh-Mackay, Twenty-One Days in India; and, the Teapot Series
    2 more examples

    He went to the cutcherry and enrolled himself as a muktear (attorney) and soon the litigants and the magistrates found out how clever he was and he acquired a big practice.

    1909, Cecil Henry Bompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas

    --Since the first edition was published, I have been told by a late officer of the Ceylon Government, that many years ago, what remained of the Dutch records were removed from the record-room of the Colonial Office to the cutcherry of the government agent of the western province: where some of them may still be found.

    1860, James Emerson Tennent, Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and
  2. IndiaA hall used for business, political, or social assemblies, such as a magistrate's court or a building housing a public agency.
    1 more example

    I walked through the ruins of the Fort of Bangalore ... it is not without some degree of magnificence. On the upper storey it contains four halls, each comprising two balconies of state for the prince, and each balcony faces a different Cutchery, or court for giving audience. No person, except a few trusty guards, were admitted into the hall with the Sultan: but at each end of the court was erected a balcony for the officers of the highest rank.

    1807, Francis Buchanan, A Journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Cananara and Malabar, London
  3. Kaempferia galanga, a plant resembling ginger.

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷer-
  2. Sanskritकृ (kṛ)
  3. Sanskritकृत्य (kṛtya)
  4. Prakrit𑀓𑀘𑁆𑀘 (kacca)
  5. Proto-Indo-European*gʰerdʰ-
  6. Proto-Indo-Iranian*gʰr̥dʰás
  7. Sanskritगृह (gṛha)
  8. Prakrit𑀖𑀭 (ghara)
  9. Hindiकचहरी (kacahrī)
  10. Marathiकचेरी (kacerī)
  11. Tamilகச்சேரி (kaccēri)
  12. Englishcutcherry

Borrowed from Tamil கச்சேரி (kaccēri, “office, administrative office”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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