Sepoy
//ˈsiːˌpɔɪ// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A native soldier of the East Indies, employed in the service of a European colonial power, notably the British India army (first under the British-chartered East India Company, later in the crown colony), but also France and Portugal. historical
"If our door were in the hands of the Sepoys the place must fall, and the women and children be treated as they were in Cawnpore."
- 2 The holder of an infantry enlisted rank equivalent to private in other countries. India, Nepal, Pakistan
Example
More examples"We are far from being so inspired with a Russophobia as to regard the time as at hand when the Russian Cossack and the English Sepoy shall knock their noses together while acting as sentinels upon their respective frontiers."
Etymology
From Portuguese sipae, from Urdu سِپاہی (sipāhī) / Hindi सिपाही (sipāhī), from Classical Persian سِپَاهِی (sipāhī, “soldier, horseman”), from سِپَاه (sipāh, “army”). Doublet of spahi and sipahi.
Related phrases
More for "sepoy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.