An Anglo-Indian term for a washerman (dhobi) in colonial India, particularly associated with the Deccan and South India.
An Anglo-Indian term for a washerman (dhobi) in colonial India, particularly associated with the Deccan and South India. The word may derive from a regional caste or occupational name. Dhobis occupied a specific niche in the colonial household economy, collecting, washing, and returning laundered clothes on a regular schedule.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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British naval and military slang for doing the laundry — washing your clothes, whether by hand in a bucket or at a shore facility. Dhobying comes from the Hindi word 'dhobi,' a washerman or laundryman, and was carried back to Britain by sailors and soldiers who served in India during the colonial era. The term is still understood in military circles and among older British speakers, and a 'dhoby bucket' is naval slang for a washing bucket.
An Anglo-Indian term from the colonial period for a female domestic servant, particularly a cleaning woman or sweeper employed in a household. The term reflects the caste hierarchies and gendered labour divisions of the colonial Indian household. Now archaic and replaced by more contemporary terms.
An Indian and South Asian term for a labourer or manual worker, used across Hindi, Urdu, and related languages and common in Indian English. The word carries no particular stigma and is the ordinary term for someone who does physical labour. Also used in political and trade union contexts.
The mainato arrived at dawn each Monday to collect the week's laundry in a large bundle balanced on his head.
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(India, historical) A washerman or dhobi.
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(British, naval) The washing of clothes; laundry.