sickman

See also: sick man

English

Etymology

From the English phrase sick man, adopted into sepoy patois.

Noun

sickman (plural sickmen)

1. (India) A person who is unwell or incapacitated.
   • 1896, Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India, volume 4, page 3:

     Generally the entrails of big animals are kept suspended at full length by means of strong ropes and a stick is taken to point out, to the friends of a sickman or an inquirer, the particular sign of recovery or of death which is indicated by peculiar marks in the entrails of the slain animal.

   • 1976, V. Venkata Rao, A Century of Tribal Politics in North East India, 1874-1974, page 256:

     Mody K. Marak who is more than seventy is a sickman. He is very slow in the disposal of business.

   • 2001, M. A. Saleem Khan, Al-Biruni's Discovery of India: An Interpretative Study, page 42:

     […] the Sultan showed marvellous power of endurance, and refused to lie in bed like a sickman.

References

• Henry Yule, A[rthur] C[oke] Burnell (1903) “sickman”, in William Crooke, editor, Hobson-Jobson […] , London: John Murray, […].

Anagrams

• McKains, Mackins