Meanings
plural havildars · alternative avaldar · alternative havaldar · alternative havildah
- South AsiaAn noncommissioned officer rank in parts of India, later a specific military rank of the British Indian Army and of the modern armies of India and Pakistan, equivalent to sergeant.
‘There was a great fight,’ said the Havildar, ‘and of us no man escaped unhurt.’
1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘At Howli Thana’, Black and White, Folio Society, published 2005, page 3881 more example
On being congratulated by the Russian, the Gurkha havildar, or sergeant, whispered anxiously to Younghusband that he should inform the towering Gromchevsky that they were unusually small and that most Gurkhas were even taller than he was.
1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 406
Origin
- Persianدار“holder”
- Arabicحَوَالَة“charge”
- Persianحوالدار
- Hindustani
- Englishhavildar
Borrowed from Hindustani حوالدار (ḥavāldār) / हविलदार (havildār), from Persian حوالدار (havâldâr), from Arabic حَوَالَة (ḥawāla, “charge”) + Persian دار (dâr, “holder”).
More words from Hindustani, Persian, Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
havildar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/havildar
“havildar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/havildar. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “havildar,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/havildar.
Source: havildar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.