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palanquin

UK/ˌpælənˈkin/US/ˌpælənˈkin/
nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,731 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: palanquins

A palanquin is a covered seat carried on poles by bearers. Travel by palanquin, step into the palanquin, four bearers to a palanquin.

It was how the wealthy moved in India and China for centuries, and colonial officials adopted it wholesale. The word reached English through Portuguese traders, from a Sanskrit word for a bed or couch.

Pearson Scott Foresman · Public domain

Definitions of palanquin

  1. 1nounpalanquinA covered seat carried on poles by bearers.C2

    “The emperor was carried through the streets in a golden palanquin.”

palanquin is a conveyance.

Where it comes from

Portuguese palanquim comes through Indian languages from Sanskrit paryanka, a bed or couch.

  1. Sanskrit

    पल्यङ्क

  2. or

    ପାଲଙ୍କି — litter

  3. Portuguese

    palanquim — Asian litter, litter-bearer

  4. English, today

    palanquin

Built from

  • पर्यङ्क · Sanskrit — bed, couch, litter

From Portuguese palanquim (“Asian litter, litter-bearer”), from or ପାଲଙ୍କି (“litter”), ultimately from Sanskrit पल्यङ्क, variant of पर्यङ्क (“bed, couch, litter”). a doublet of palki.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

palanquin in the wild

  • A mikoshi is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine).

    Mikoshi

  • The litter, also known as a sedan chair, palanquin or dooly, is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people.

    Litter (vehicle)

  • "Keep the palanquin decorated") is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Priyadarshan.

    Doli Saja Ke Rakhna

  • In Gujarat and Maharashtra, their traditional occupations included acting as palanquin-bearers.

    Bhoi

  • The Kahars are a community of palanquin bearers originating from the Gangetic region in India.

    Kahar

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.