|
aanaa / anna
|
coin – a sixteenth of a rupee – nowadays not common.(See
also measurements – ana /aanaa is a sixteenth of a
ropani, in common, everyday use)
|
|
adhiya
|
(literally, half and half), equal division of produce between
landowner and tenant farmer
|
|
bahidar
|
clerk/accountant
|
|
Bahun/bahun
|
Nepali word for Brahmin, the highest Hindu caste. This is
the priestly caste; Brahmin is also used colloquially to mean
a priest.
|
|
bari
|
un-irrigated sloping agricultural land
|
|
basmati
|
variety of rice, high quality
|
|
Baun Utthan Samiti
|
Forest conservation/re-afforestation committee
|
|
bensi
|
lowland, a valley
|
|
bhajans
|
devotional songs, hymns
|
|
bhat
|
(literally, cooked rice); often used to refer to food or
meals in general
|
|
Bhauju
|
sister-in-law (wife of older brother)
|
|
Bhote /Bhotay / Bhotini; Bhotay-sotay
|
Nepali term, usually used in a negative way, to mean people
of Tibetan origin such as Sherpa, Tamang and Gurung (Bhotay
= masculine form; Bhotini = feminine form)
|
|
bhote tea
|
Tibetan tea, churned with butter and salt
|
|
Brahmin
|
the highest Hindu caste. This is the priestly caste; Brahmin
is also used colloquially to mean a priest.
|
|
Bratabandha
|
rite of passage marking the entry to manhood: the young man
shaves his hair and symbolically goes to beg alms
|
|
carom
|
popular board game with plastic/wood counters/coins, often
played for money
|
|
Chettri
|
the second highest Hindu caste
|
|
Chhewar
|
the first time a baby son’s hair is cut
|
|
chiple kira
|
snail
|
|
chori biwah
|
marriage by elopement
|
|
chow chow
|
instant, packet noodles
|
|
chudka
|
a type of folk song/lyric
|
|
Congress
|
Nepali Congress Party, one of the country’s main political
parties.
|
|
dai
|
(literally, older brother); any older male
|
|
dakshina
|
donation, reward, gift or fee
|
|
dal
|
lentils
|
|
dal bhat
|
literally lentils and rice, but often used to refer to food
or meals in general
|
|
dalits
|
lower caste
|
|
Damai
|
tailors; occupational caste
|
|
Danwar
|
Danwar people are similar to the Majhi, and live primarily
in the low lands of the eastern Terai
|
|
Dasain / Dashain
|
The main Nepali festival held after the rice harvest around
October; the ceremonies vary slightly and some more Buddhist
communities may not participate. People visit friends and
relatives, exchange gifts and eat special foods.
|
|
daura-suruwal
|
Nepali national dress for men: daura a long shirt
with a nehru style collar and suruwal, trousers which
are baggy at the top and tight at the bottom
|
|
Dhami / Jhankri
|
traditional healer using both spiritual and herbal methods
of treatment to alleviate general problems and ill health
|
|
dharkin markin faria
|
markin is coarse, canvas-type cloth; faria
is an item of clothing like a sari, but worn differently
|
|
dhiki
|
foot-operated pestle for milling grain
|
|
dhindo
|
porridge made of millet or maize flour; considered low quality,
only for those who cannot afford rice, or live in areas where
there is no rice
|
|
dhoti
|
literally, unstitched cloth. Used to describe cotton sari
worn by women, or a seamless white cotton cloth wrapped around
the waist worn by men
|
|
dhyangro
|
large hand-held drum mostly used in religious/shamanistic
rituals/dances
|
|
dohare songs
|
Dohare / dohari means reciprocal; songs consisting
of questions and answers between men and women
|
|
doko
|
conical basket woven of bamboo strips, used for carrying
loads on the back with a strap (namlo, see below) round
the head
|
|
dhukuti
|
treasury, store for granary; also refers to cash savings
|
|
gagro
|
pot for carrying and storing water
|
|
Gaun Bikash Samiti / GABISA
|
Village Development Committee (see VDC)
|
|
ghatta
|
water mill
|
|
ghee/ghiu
|
clarified butter
|
|
Ghewa
|
funeral rites of Buddhist communities (ie Tamang, Sherpa,
Gurung)
|
|
goitre
|
enlarged thyroid gland, usually caused by lack of iodine
in diet
|
|
goth; gotha
|
livestock enclosure in pastures some distance from homestead;livestock
shed
|
|
gothala
|
shepherd
|
|
gotra
|
lineage/clan/extended family affecting many aspects of everyday
life, responsibilities and traditions
|
|
gundruk
|
fermented dried spinach
|
|
Gurung
|
One of Nepal’s major ethnic groups; primarily Buddhist
|
|
hali
|
ploughman
|
|
hill language
|
Nepali. Many ethnic groups, such as the Tamang, have their
own language; in remoter districts older people may not speak
Nepali.
|
|
hulak
|
post office
|
|
IA
|
Intermediate Arts, exam equivalent to A-level, taken two
years after completion of the school leaving certificate
(SLC)
|
|
ISc
|
Intermediate Science, as above
|
|
jaldaan
|
offering of water during religious rites: jal means
water; daan means offering
|
|
jamindars
|
rich landowners, consequently powerful people in the village
|
|
janti
|
marriage procession from the groom’s side
|
|
Janryani
|
women drunkards (male form is janrya)
|
|
jard / janr
|
white beer made of fermented grain – millet, rice etc; general
term, along with rakshi, for alcohol
|
|
jadibutis / jardibutis
|
medicinal herbs
|
|
jatra
|
pilgrimage, fair or festival marked by a procession often
pulling or carrying chariots of the gods; also used to mean
a crowd or a crowded place
|
|
Jayapu
|
farming caste among the Newar, one of Nepal’s largest ethnic
groups
|
|
jira
|
cumin seed
|
|
juwari
|
style of song: men and women, led by a lead singer, compete
with each other in verse, composing lyrics as they go along
|
|
jutho
|
something polluted, in this case food on someone’s plate,
which others will not share
|
|
Kami
|
blacksmiths/ people who work with iron (occupational caste)
|
|
karkure (karkalo) ko jhol
|
soup made from the succulent leaves and soft stem of karkalo,
a vegetable which grows easily. Its tuber (pindalo)
is usually added to lentil soups.
|
|
Kasais
|
butchers (occupational caste)
|
|
Khaasi
|
term of endearment (in this case for favoured daughter-in-law)
|
|
kharani
|
ash
|
|
khetala
|
farm labour; working on others’ fields for payment or as
labour exchange
|
|
khil
|
peg, spike, wedge
|
|
khole
|
food for livestock; a kind of soup made of leftovers mixed
with a little rice and flour
|
|
khukuri
|
Nepali curved knife
|
|
kuli
|
labourer
|
|
Kulo Samiti
|
Water Users’ Committee
|
|
kurta suruwal
|
Indian-style women’s dress: kurta, loose fitting collarless
shirt; suruwal, trousers which are baggy at the top
and tight at the bottom
|
|
lakh
|
one hundred thousand
|
|
lalpurja
|
land ownership certificate
|
|
lama
|
Buddhist priest; some Tamangs use Lama as a surname
|
|
lekh
|
a hilly region
|
|
madal
|
Nepali drum played with the fingers
|
|
Magar
|
An ethnic community found predominantly in western and central
Nepal.
|
|
Majhi
|
One of Nepal’s many ethnic groups, traditionally involved
in river occupations such as fishing
|
|
maita
|
a wife’s parents’ home
|
|
Maiti Nepal
|
Nepali NGO working on the issue of trafficking and providing
shelter and support for woman who return from India’s brothels
|
|
Mansuli rice
|
local variety of rice, medium quality
|
|
mantra
|
holy incantation, Vedic hymn
|
|
maxi
|
long skirt
|
|
melo
|
farm labour / going to work for others
|
|
mohani
|
charming, seductive
|
|
mohor/mohur
|
8 aanaa silver piece; 1 mohr = 50 paise
|
|
nail / nali
|
small channel
|
|
namlo
|
band put round forehead to support a load being carried on
the back
|
|
Nauran
|
child naming ceremony, usually on the seventh day after birth
|
|
Newar
|
One of Nepal’s major ethnic groups, mostly Hindu but including
some Buddhists, concentrated in the Kathmandu valley. Have
their own occupational cast system.
|
|
one-eyed
|
uneducated
|
|
paddy
|
unharvested rice; also harvested but unhusked rice
|
|
paisa / paise
|
unit of currency: 100 paisa = 1 rupee; also
used to mean money generally
|
|
Panchayat;panchayat
|
the previous non-party political regime; administrative
unit of that regime, which was replaced in 1990 by the multi-party
system
|
|
parbate; Parbate
|
belonging to the mountains, a hill man; the Nepali language
(also known as “hill language”) especially as spoken by uneducated
Nepalis
|
|
parma
|
system of labour exchange
|
|
Pewa
|
gift of assets to daughters, usually chickens or goats, for
them to take to their husband’s house
|
|
pradhan pancha / pradhanpanch
|
village headman, head of village council (panchayat)
|
|
puja
|
act of prayer; ritual may include making offerings
|
|
pundit
|
Hindu priest
|
|
Purnima
|
day of the full moon
|
|
rakshi
|
distilled spirit made from grain; general term for alcohol
|
|
Rodi
|
Gurung folk dance, a paddy (rice) dance
|
|
roti
|
(unleavened) bread
|
|
rupees / Rs
|
unit of currency in Nepal (also India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka)
|
|
sahu
|
money lender, merchant
|
|
Sankranti
|
the first day of the month
|
|
sari
|
women’s clothing; length of cloth worn draped around the
body, usually silk or synthetic material
|
|
Sherpa
|
an ethnic group similar to the Tamang, Buddhists, concentrated
in the higher hills, especially around Sagarmatha
|
|
shlok
|
verse of a song, stanza, poetry
|
|
sikhar
|
(literally, a peak or summit), hillside
|
|
SLC
|
School Leaving Certificate
|
|
sokan
|
dried radish
|
|
sotar
|
grass/leaves etc used for animal bedding which, combined
with their manure, makes good compost
|
|
Swasthani
|
Hindu religious text, read for a month every winter. It
is directed at women, teaching Hindu values and morals so
that they will be faithful wives
|
|
suka
|
unit of currency. 1 suka = four annas = 25
paise
|
|
talukdar
|
tax collector
|
|
Tamang
|
Ethnic group believed to be of Mongolian, Tibetan ancestry.
They are Lama Buddhists, with their own language and
culture; some celebrate Hindu festivals as well.
|
|
Teej
|
Festival celebrated by women and girls who sing, dance, pray
and fast in order to secure the well being of their husbands,
or to get a good husband
|
|
Terai
|
Lower, sub-tropical plains area of Nepal
|
|
thekka patta
|
contract work
|
|
tiffin
|
light meal, usually taken at midday
|
|
Tihar
|
Hindu festival of lights. Tihar takes place in October-November
and lasts for 5 days. Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, is worshipped;
towns and villages are illuminated with many flickering lamps.
Also known as Diwali.
|
|
tika
|
decorative mark made on forehead as a blessing
|
|
tole
|
geographical administrative unit: wards are sub-divided into
toles, which are clusters of households or villages
|
|
VDC
|
Village Development Committee: a geographical administrative
unit below a district; also a committee of elected members,
the smallest local administrative unit
|
|
ward
|
VDCs are made up of 9 wards. Representatives are elected
from wards and sit on the VDC
|
Nepali months
top
