begum

verb

1. (transitive)To daub or cover with gum.

noun

1. a high-ranking Muslim woman, especially in South Asia

   “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.”

   “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.”

   “toxic politics dominated by the bitter infighting of the “battling begums” (the widow and daughter of former presidents, who lead the two main parties).”

2. 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.’”

3. An honorific title from Central and South Asia, often used by leading women in society.

name

1. A surname of Bengali usage