# Hindi

/ˈhɪndi/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/hindi
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. the language

noun · CEFR A1

the main language spoken in northern and central India.

For teachers: Modern Standard Hindi, a standardized register of the Hindustani language and one of the official languages of India.

- She is learning to speak Hindi because she wants to work in Delhi.
- While Hindi is the primary language of administration in the north, many citizens in southern India speak it only as a third or fourth language.

### 2. relating to the language

adjective · CEFR A2

describing something written in or related to the Hindi language.

For teachers: relating to the Hindi language, its literature, or its speakers.

- The hotel provided a Hindi newspaper for the guests from Mumbai.
- The professor specialized in Hindi literature, focusing specifically on poetry from the early twentieth century.

### 3. dialect group

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a group of related languages and local ways of speaking in northern India.

For teachers: a collective term for the diverse Central Zone Indo-Aryan dialects spoken across the 'Hindi Belt' of northern India.

- Linguists study different Hindi dialects to see how they change across the country.
- Linguistic surveys often distinguish between Western and Eastern Hindi, noting significant phonological differences between the two dialect clusters.

## Examples

- She is learning to speak Hindi for her trip to Delhi.
- Many Bollywood films are produced in Hindi, making the language popular across different regions of the world.
- While Hindi serves as a lingua franca across much of northern India, its formal register draws heavily from Sanskrit vocabulary, distinguishing it from the Persian-influenced lexicon of Urdu.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.