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

  1. A native soldier of the East Indies, employed in...

Ancestry of “sepoy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1PortuguesesipaeObsolete form of sipaio
2Urduسپاہیsoldier
3Classical Persianسپاهی—
4Persianسپاهarmy
5Proto-Iranian*cwáHdaharmy
6Proto-Indo-Iranian*ćwáHdʰaH—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanḱwéh₁-dʰ-o-h₁—

Words derived from “sepoy”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱwéh₁-dʰ-o-h₁ →Every word from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćwáHdʰaH →Every word from Proto-Iranian *cwáHdah →