ख़ाक

See also: ख़ाकी

Hindi

Borrowed from Classical Persian (xāk).^[1] First attested in c. 1421^[2] as Old Hindi خاک (xak /⁠xāk⁠/), then as Middle Hindi خاک (xak /⁠xāk⁠/) (c. 1572).^[2]

ख़ाक • (xāk) f (Urdu spelling خاک)^[3]

dust, ashes
ख़ाक मेरी आँखें में घुस गई।
xāk merī ā̃khẽ mẽ ghus gaī.
The dust got into my eyes.
(figuratively, attributive) useless, of no use
- after 1824, Ghalib 87.1:
  आबरू क्या ख़ाक उस गुल की कि गुलशन में नहीं
  है गरेबाँ नंग-ए-पैराहन जो दामन में नहीं
  ābrū kyā xāk us gul kī ki gulśan mẽ nahī̃
  hai garebā̃ naṅg-e-pairāhan jo dāman mẽ nahī̃
  What uselessness is the honor [i.e. there is no honor] of the rose that is not in the garden
  the collar is a shame to the robe if it is not in the hem
- 2011, “मधुबाला [madhubālā]”, in Irshad Kamil (lyrics), Sohail Sen (music), Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (soundtrack), performed by Ali Zafar, Sreerama Chandra, and Shweta Pandit:
  अरे, थक गए क्या?
  अरे भैया, यूपी आए और साला ढोल नहीं बजा
  तो क्या ख़ाक यूपी आए।
  are, thak gae kyā?
  are bhaiyā, yūpī āe aur sālā ḍhol nahī̃ bajā
  to kyā xāk yūpī āe.
  What, are you tired?
  Hey brother, you came to Uttar Pradesh, and the damn dhol did not play
  Then, what uselessness was it to come [i.e. there was no use in coming] to Uttar Pradesh

Declension of ख़ाक (fem cons-stem)

More information

^ Kuczkiewicz-Fraś, Agnieszka (2008) “kẖāk”, in Perso-Arabic Loanwords in Hindustani, Part 1 Dictionary, Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka, →ISBN, page 474.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 “خاک”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
^ “ख़ाक”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.