Langar

//ˈlʌŋɡə// name, noun

name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A public eating-place in South Asia, now especially a communal kitchen run by a Sikh community and serving free food. Sikhism, countable

    "While many hungry people go to the langars in Delhi's gurudwaras, or in Birmingham, or the two in Queens, New York, because the food is good and free, there's a decidedly political dimension […]"

  2. 2
    The free food served at such a place. uncountable
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A village in Langar cum Barnstone parish, Rushcliffe borough, Nottinghamshire, England (OS grid ref SK7234).

Example

More examples

"While many hungry people go to the langars in Delhi's gurudwaras, or in Birmingham, or the two in Queens, New York, because the food is good and free, there's a decidedly political dimension […]"

Etymology

From Hindi लंगर (laṅgar), Punjabi ਲੰਗਰ (laṅgar, “public kitchen, almshouse”), and their source, Classical Persian لنگر (langar, “public eating-place attached to Sufi shrine”). Doublet of anchor.

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