Murgi
/ˈmʊəɡɪ/noun
A hen or chicken, especially in South Asian English.
Did you know?Murgi entered South Asian English through Hindi-Urdu murghī, whose deeper ancestor is Persian murġ, meaning “bird” or “fowl.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-Iranian
PII
*mŕ̥ǵas
“A bird or wild animal; a reconstructed ancestral form associated with later Iranian and Indo-Aryan bird terms.”
Avestan
Avestan
mərəγa
“Bird.”
Middle Persian
Middle Persian
murw
“Bird or fowl.”
Classical Persian
Persian
murġ
“Bird, fowl, or chicken.”
Medieval Hindi-Urdu
Hindi-Urdu
murġī
“Hen; feminine form related to murġ, “fowl.””
Modern English
English
murgi
“A hen or chicken, chiefly in South Asian English.”