اردو

Ottoman Turkish

اردو

Alternative forms

• اوردو (ordu)

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *ordu (“army camp”); cognate with Old Turkic 𐰆𐰺𐰑𐰆 (ordu), Azerbaijani ordu, Bashkir урда (urda), Kazakh орда (orda), Kyrgyz ордо (ordo), Turkmen orda, Uyghur ئوردا (orda), Uzbek orda and Yakut ордуу (orduu).

Noun

اردو • (ordu) (definite accusative اردویی (orduyu), plural اردولر (ordular))

1. military camp, a temporary military base provided with tents for the lodging of an army

   Synonym: اردوگاه (ordugâh)

2. (by extension) army, a highly organized military force, concerned mainly with ground operations

   Synonyms: جند (cünd), جیش (ceyiş), چری (çeri), عسكر (ʼasker), لشكر (leşker)

Derived terms

• اردو قاضیسی (ordu kadısı, “judge-advocate of an army”)
• اردو قالدرمق (ordu kaldırmak, “to break up a camp”)
• اردو قورمق (ordu kurmak, “to form a camp, to encamp”)
• اردو مركزی (ordu merkezi, “headquarters of an army”)
• اردو چیقارمق (ordu çıkarmak, “to send an army into the field”)
• اردولق (orduluk, “the time when troops are in the field”)
• اردوگاه (ordugâh, “military camp”)
• اردوی همایون (orduyı hümâyun, “imperial army; imperial camp”)
• قول اردو (kol ordu, “wing of an army”)

Descendants

• > Turkish: ordu (inherited)
• → Albanian: hordhi
• → Northern Kurdish: ordî
• → Arabic: عُرْضِيّ (ʕurḍiyy)
  • → Amharic: ዕርድ (ʿərd)
  • → Tigre: ዕርዲ (ʿərdi)
  • → Tigrinya: ዕርዲ (ʿərdi)

Ordu province

Proper noun

اردو • (ordu)

1. Ordu (a city and province in the East Black Sea region, Turkey)

   Synonym: بایراملی (bayramlı) (obsolete)

Descendants

• Turkish: Ordu

Further reading

• Barbier de Meynard, Charles (1881) “اردو”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, volume I, Paris: E. Leroux, page 34
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “ordu”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 3628
• Hindoglu, Artin (1838) “اردو”, in Hazine-i lûgat ou dictionnaire abrégé turc-français‎^[1], Vienna: F. Beck, page 22a
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “اردو”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[2], Constantinople: Mihran, page 67
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Castra”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[3], Vienna, column 158
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “اردو”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[4], Vienna, column 139
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “ordu”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2010–) “Ordu”, in Nişanyan Yeradları: Türkiye ve Çevre Ülkeler Yerleşim Birimleri Envanteri [Index Anatolicus: An inventory of place names of Turkey and surrounding countries] (in Turkish)
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “اردو”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[5], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 65
• Sezen, Tahir (2017) “Ordu”, in Osmanlı Yer Adları [Ottoman Place Names]‎^[6], 2nd edition, Ankara: T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü, page 589

Persian

Etymology

Derived from Proto-Turkic *ordu (“army, camp”) (see Azerbaijani ordu, Turkish ordu, Turkmen orda). Compare horde.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔuɾ.ˈduː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔʊɾ.d̪úː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔʊɾ.d̪úː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔʊɾ.d̪úː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔuɾ.d̪ú]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔoɹ.d̪úː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔuɾ.d̪ú]

Readings
Classical reading?	urdū
Dari reading?	urdū
Iranian reading?	ordu
Tajik reading?	urdu

Noun

اردو • (ordu) (plural اردوها (ordu-hâ))

Dari	اردو
Iranian Persian
Tajik	урду

1. horde
2. (Iran) camping
3. (Dari) army

Derived terms

• اردو زدن (ordu zadan, “to camp”)
• اردوگاه (ordugâh, “camp, campsite”)

Proper noun

اُرْدو • (ordu)

1. Urdu

Adjective

اُرْدو • (ordu)

1. Urdu

Related terms

• زبان اردو (zabân-e ordu)

Descendants

• Dari: اردو (urdū)
• Iranian Persian: اردو (ordu)
• Tajik: урду (urdu), Урду (Urdu)
• → Bengali: উর্দু (urdu)
• → Gujarati: ઉર્દૂ (urdū)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: उर्दू (urdū)

  Urdu: اُرْدُو (urdū)

  • → English: Urdu
• → Kannada: ಉರ್ದೂ (urdū)
• → Marathi: उर्दू (urdū)
• → Nepali: उर्दु (urdu), उर्दू (urdū)
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਉਰਦੂ (uradū)

  Shahmukhi script: اُرْدُو (urdū)

• → Telugu: ఉర్దూ (urdū)

Urdu

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʊɾ.d̪uː/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Etymology 1

Shortened from اُرْدُوْئے مُعَلّیٰ (urdū-e mu'allā), from Middle Hindi زُبانِ اُرْدُوْئے مُعَلّیٰ (zubān-i urdū-e mu'allā), borrowed from Classical Persian زُبَانِ اُرْدُویِ مُعَلّیٰ (zubān-i urdū-yi mu'allā, “language of the royal camp”).

Proper noun

اُرْدُو • (urdū) f (Hindi spelling उर्दू)

Urdu and Hindustani used synonymously by a British linguist of the early 20th century

1. the Urdu language

   کْیا آپ اُرْدُو بولْتے ہَیں؟

   kyā āp urdū bolte ha͠i?

   Do you speak Urdu?

2. (historical, obsolete) Rekhta (the Hindustani language)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Persian اردو (urdū), from Turkic.

Noun

اُرْدُو • (urdū) f (Hindi spelling उर्दू)

1. (military, rare) army, camp

   Synonym: لَشْکَر (laśkar)

References

• “اردو”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “اردو”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.