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mahout

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mahout

  • /məˈhaʊt/ UK
  • /məˈhuːt/ UK
  • /məˈhaʊt/ US
  • /məˈhut/ US
  • /məˈhaːʋət̪/ India

Rhymes with -aʊt, -uːt

Where it comes from

PIE word

*méǵh₂s

The noun is borrowed from Hindustani (Hindi महौत (mahaut)/Urdu مَہَوت (mahaut)), महाउत (mahāut), variants of महावत (mahāvat)/مَہاوَت (mahāvat), from Sanskrit महामात्र (mahāmātra, “elephant keeper; high official; king’s minister”), from महा (mahā, “great”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”)) + मात्र (mātra, “measure; quantity”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”)).

The verb is derived from the noun.

noun mahouts

  1. South Asia An elephant trainer, keeper, and driver. The Serrievvan hath the overſight of the Camels, and the Mahout, that of the Elephants.

    Similar: mahawat, oozie

verb mahouts · mahouting · mahouted

  1. transitive To drive (an elephant or elephants). Word was passed down the river, the call going out for the bravest of Brul mahouting only the strongest of mounts.
  2. intransitive To drive elephants. First a team of six ponied pulling a miniature fire engine jumping with midget firefighters, then a dozen scantily mahouted elephants painted pink, came out of the arc light and sawdut into neon glow and mirroring asphalt.

Translations

Every language

noun elephant trainer, keeper, and driver

Españolmahout, cornaca
한국어머하웃 meohaut
中文象夫 xiàngfū, 象奴 xiàngnú
हिन्दीमहौत mahaut, महाउत mahāut, महावत mahāvat
Portuguêscornaca
Françaismahout, cornac
DeutschMahaut, Mahout, Mahut, Elefantentreiber
Românăcornac
Русскиймахау́т maxaút, пого́нщик слоно́в pogónščik slonóv
Tiếng Việtquản tượng, nài
العربيةسَائِسُ فِيل sāʔisu fīl
עבריתפַּיָּל payal

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Cite this
MLA

"mahout." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mahout. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

mahout. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mahout

Chicago

"mahout." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mahout.

BibTeX
@misc{mahout_2026,
  title = {mahout},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mahout},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}