Pathan

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindustani پٹھان / पठान (paṭhān). Doublet of Pashtun.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pəˈtɑːn/

Noun

Pathan (plural Pathans)

  1. (British India, South Asia) Synonym of Pashtun; a member of the Pashto-speaking people of today’s north-west Pakistan and south-east Afghanistan.
    • 1855, Sir Richard Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, Dover, published 1964, pages 44–5:
      After long deliberation about the choice of nations, I became a “Pathán.”
    • 1958 November, M. H. Baker, “The North Borneo Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 783:
      The 57-mile line from Jesselton to Beaufort was a more substantial undertaking than that from Weston, and a contract was given to the firm of George Pauling & Company, which brought many Pathans, veterans of railway building in India, to tackle the job.

Further reading

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