What does "havildar" mean?

An 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.

What is a synonym for "havildar"?

Common synonyms include: centurion, corporal, nco, noncom, noncommissioned officer, sarge.

Havildar

//ˈhævɪldɑɹ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
An 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. South-Asia
"‘There was a great fight,’ said the Havildar, ‘and of us no man escaped unhurt.’"

Synonyms

All synonyms

centurion corporal nco noncom noncommissioned officer sarge

Example

More examples

"‘There was a great fight,’ said the Havildar, ‘and of us no man escaped unhurt.’"

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindustani حوالدار (ḥavāldār) / हविलदार (havildār), from Persian حوالدار (havâldâr), from Arabic حَوَالَة (ḥawāla, “charge”) + Persian دار (dâr, “holder”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.