Where does “sepoy” come from?

Sepoy comes from Portuguese sipae, from Urdu سپاہی, from Persian سپاهی, from Persian سپاه, from Middle Persian spʾh.

sepoy (English): A native soldier of the East Indies, employed in...

Definitions

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	Portuguese	sipae	Obsolete form of sipaio
2	Urdu	سپاہی	soldier
3	Classical Persian	سپاهی	—
4	Persian	سپاه	army
5	Proto-Iranian	*cwáHdah	—
6	Proto-Indo-Iranian	*ćwáHdʰaH	—
7	Proto-Indo-European	ḱwéh₁-dʰ-o-h₁	—

sepoy — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer