Definition of "babu" [babu]

• Used as a Hindi courtesy title for a man, equivalent to Mr. (noun)
• A Hindu clerk who is literate in English. (noun)
• Offensive A native of India who has acquired some superficial education in English. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "From a printed curiosity -- a letter written by one of those brave and confident Hindoo strugglers with the English tongue, called a "babu" -- I got a more compressed translation: "Godville.""
• "A remarkable statement reveals him to be a 'babu': "He said many of the awardees will go abroad while others will study at home, but those who do not go abroad should not feel deprived, because, 'I know many men and women who excelled globally, but had studied in Bangladesh.'""
• "The influence of Hindi in English is always there in the land of India where its national language, the colloquialism of which has been widely accepted by the Indians and even some words like Badmash, babu, maska and many more are introduced in English dictionaries."