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Sepoy

 - 3 dictionary results

se⋅poy

  [see-poi]
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–noun
(formerly, in India) a native soldier, usually an infantryman, in the service of Europeans, esp. of the British.
Origin:
1675–85, in sense “horseman”; 1710–20 for current sense; var. of sipahi < Urdu < Pers sipāhī horseman, soldier, deriv. of sipāh army; cf. spahi
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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se·poy   (sē'poi')   
n.  

  1. An indigenous soldier serving in the army of a foreign conqueror, especially an Indian soldier serving under British command in India.

    1. The lowest enlisted rank in the British Indian army and its successors, equivalent to private.

    2. One holding this rank.


[Probably from Portuguese sipae, from Urdu sipāhī, from Persian, cavalryman, from sipāh, army.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

sepoy 
"native of India in British military service," 1717, from Port. sipae, from Urdu sipahi, from Pers. sipahi "soldier, horseman," from sipah "army." The Sepoy Mutiny was 1857-8.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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