howdah

English

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howdah

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• houdah, howda, howder

Etymology

From Hindi हौदा (haudā), from Arabic هَوْدَج (hawdaj, “litter carried by a camel”) (1774).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaʊdə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊdə

Noun

howdah (plural howdahs)

1. A seat, usually with a canopy, carried on the back of an elephant or camel.
   • 1938, Raja Rao, Kanthapura:

     They don't ask for palanquins and howdahs.

   • 1972, Patrick O'Brian, Post Captain:

     I shot a couple […] Only from the safety of a howdah, of course.

   • 1993, Will Self, My Idea of Fun:

     I felt the corporeal elephant on whose back my world was supported amble effortlessly along, rather than it being necessary for me to lean out from the howdah of my head and goad him.

2. An ornate carriage which is positioned on the back of elephants or occasionally other animals, used most often in the past for rich people who travelled in India via elephant.

Derived terms

• howdahless

Translations

Translations

Arabic: هَوْدَج (hawdaj); مِحَفَّة (miḥaffa) (covered, for women) Hijazi Arabic: شقدف m (šagdaf), هودج m (hōdaj) Hindi: please add this translation if you can Indonesian: haudah (id) Malay: rengga Ottoman Turkish: محفه (mahfe), هودج (hevdec) Persian: کجاوه (fa) Turkish: mahfe (tr), hevdec, mahmil (tr) Urdu: please add this translation if you can

References

• Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition (1997)