Meanings
plural mofussils
- IndiacountableuncountableOriginally, the regions of India outside the three East India Company capitals of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras; hence, parts of a country outside an urban centre; the regions, rural areas.
His natural language was crass and of the mofussil, yet he could pepper it with smart turns of phrase on occasion.
2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 31 more example
Such are the means by which the Mofussil, “up-country,” or provincial Anglo-Indian will reach his station or district, and unless he is going to Bombay or Calcutta, which are practically the two entrance doors of the Empire, with Madras for a back door, his first experience of Anglo-Indian life will be of travel; and the land journey will often prove much more trying than the sea-voyage.
1904, Herbert Compton, Indian Life in Town and Country
Origin
- Arabicمُفَصَّل
- Classical Persianمفصل
- Bengaliমফস্বল
- Englishmofussil
Borrowed from Bengali মফস্বল (mophośśol), from Classical Persian مفصل (mufassal), from Arabic مُفَصَّل (mufaṣṣal), passive participle of فَصَّلَ (faṣṣala, “to divide, classify”).
More words from Bengali, Classical Persian, Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
mofussil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mofussil
“mofussil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mofussil. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mofussil,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mofussil.
Source: mofussil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.