Bangladeshi

How to spell bangladeshi

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce bangladeshi

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bangladeshi mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to Bangladesh, its people, language, or culture.
2. nounA person from Bangladesh or of Bangladeshi descent.

Bangladeshi in a sentence

• adjective

  The restaurant serves authentic bangladeshi cuisine from Dhaka.

• noun

  As a proud bangladeshi, he often spoke about his hometown near Chittagong.

• adjective

  She studied bangladeshi textile production for her dissertation.

• noun

  The community centre was founded by a local bangladeshi in the 1980s.

Where does bangladeshi come from?

Language of origin: Other

This word is built directly from the name of the country Bangladesh, which itself means 'land of the Bengalis' or 'land of Bengal'. The first element, Bangla, refers to the Bengali language and people, while the second element, desh, comes from a Sanskrit and Persian root deśa meaning 'country' or 'land', the same element seen in many South Asian place names. The final -i is a widespread suffix across Persian, Hindi, Urdu, and Bengali used to mark belonging or origin, exactly as in 'Pakistani' or 'Punjabi'. The term entered wide English use after 1971, when East Pakistan won independence and the modern state of Bangladesh was founded, so it is a relatively young word in English. The spelling trap lies in the unstressed middle vowels and the 'sh' sound spelled with 'shi', which writers sometimes shorten or scramble.

How the word is built

• Bangla (the Bengali language/region)
• desh (Persian/Bengali for 'country, land')
• -i (suffix forming 'of or belonging to')