Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der.
Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder.
Proto-Indo-European *h₁épider.
Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi
Proto-Germanic *bider.
Proto-Germanic *bi-
Proto-West Germanic *bi-
Old English be-
Middle English bi-
English be-
English gum
English begum
From be- + gum.
From Classical Persian بیگم (bēgum), from East Turkic begüm, from beg (a title of nobility in Iran, Central Asia and South Asia) + -um (feminine suffix for titles of nobility). Compare Classical Persian خانم (xānum).
Meanings
a high-ranking Muslim woman, especially in South Asia
toxic politics dominated by the bitter infighting of the “battling begums” (the widow and daughter of former presidents, who lead the two main parties). 2012, “Bangladesh: Out of the basket”, in The Economist:
She was the daughter of an English officer, who having fallen in love with an Indian Begum gave up home, country, and friends, and married her. 1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009:
He went to India with his capital, and there, according to a wild legend in our family, he was once seen riding on an elephant, in company with a Baboon; but I think it must have been a Baboo—or a Begum. 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:
the form of address for such a woman
It was a known fact that an envoy from an Indian Prince, a Colonel Altamont, the Nawaub of Lucknow’s prime favourite, an extraordinary man, who had, it was said, embraced Mahometanism, and undergone a thousand wild and perilous adventures was at present in this country, trying to negotiate with the Begum Clavering, the sale of the Nawaub’s celebrated nose-ring diamond, ‘the light of the Dewan.’ 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 45, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
ru бе́гума (a high ranking woman) · uz begim (a high ranking woman) · az bəyim (a high ranking woman) · tr begüm (a high ranking woman) · ar بيكُم (a high ranking woman) · hi बेगम (a high ranking woman) · ur بیگَم (a high ranking woman) · fa بیگم (a high ranking woman) · de Begum (a high ranking woman) · ota بیگم (a high ranking woman) · sv begum (a high ranking woman) · te బేగం (a high ranking woman) · bn বেগম (a high ranking woman)