Hindu
/ˈhɪnduː/adjective, noun
Hindu is spelled H-I-N-D-U: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, Hindu means “Of, or relating to Hinduism, or to Hindus and their culture” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in Hindu?
| Letters | 5: H-I-N-D-U |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is Hindu?
Hindu appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce Hindu?
- /ˈhɪnduː/
Hindu has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Hindu.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of Hindu
- Hindus plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does Hindu mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of, or relating to Hinduism, or to Hindus and their culture.
noun
- 1
A person adhering to the Hindu religion (Hinduism).
- 2
datedAny native inhabitant of Hindustan.
- 3
obsoleteA bunnia (merchant or trader) with a company of soldiers.
- 4
datedA person of Indian religion and race.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hindu in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | hindu, hinduísta |
| Spanish | hindú , hinduista |
| French | hindoue, indou, indoue, hindouiste , hindou |
| German | Hindu, Hindufrau |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does Hindu come from?
Derived from Classical Persian هِنْدُو (hindū, “Indian, Hindu”), from Middle Persian hndwk' (Hindūg, “Indian”), from hnd (Hind, “India”), from Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢 (hiⁿdu-, “India”), from Sanskrit सिन्धु (síndhu, “river, stream; Indus”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *síndʰuṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš (“river”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).