Aakhlo: Bull cow, a male animal (used for reproduction or for religious rituals only)

Anna: A coin worth four paise (sixteen annas worth one rupee of Indian currency)

 

Baa: Mother (an endearing word for ‘Ma’, for grandmother or other elderly women)

Badad: Bullock (a tamed castrated male cow, used for carrying loads or as a farm animal)

Bafelu: Boiled food (grains, vegetables, fruits or even flours)

Bai: A ‘Marathi’ woman (a professional lady who leads children safely to school)

Bapuji: Father (Bap or Bapu, but ‘ji’ is added in Gujarati as a special respect)

Bandi: Undershirt (only garment worn in the summer, at night or for many poor people)

Baari: Window (with or without shutters, glass panes or grills, or even hole in wall)

Barnu: A door (usually made of wood but in villages it could be of grass, sticks or leaves)

Beda: Multiple water pots (stacked on top of each other, the largest on the bottom)

Ben: Sister (the word is typically added to any older lady’s name to pay respect)

Bhai: Brother (the word typically added to any older man’s name to pay respect)

Bhakhri: A thick, flat and unleavened bread (typically made of wheat but could be other grains)

Bhamardo: A wooden top (rotated and played with a cotton string)

Bhani: Daughter of the son of the family (granddaughter)

Bidi: A homemade cigarette (made of tobacco rolled in a semi-dry leaf of ashtari)

Bhono: Son of the son of the family (grandson)

Bharo: A bundle of sticks, wood or grass carried on one’s head

Bhaat: A boiled rice menu item (eaten with ‘dal’, vegetable curry or yogurt)

Bhesh: Female buffalo (domesticated for thicker and higher fat content milk)

Bhoni: Daughter of the daughter of the family (granddaughter)

Bhonio: Son of the daughter of the family (grandson)

 

Chaddi: Shorts worn by little kids (by adults during hot weather or at night)

Chanchad: A small flea (jumps a foot-high, forcing individuals to sleep on a cot)

Chandlo: A round mark on forehead (married women typically use a red circle shaped one) or red mark applied by priests (to all people during any auspicious rituals)

Chhas : Whey liquid (left from butter churning, thin greenish-white, and sour to taste, for drinks and cooking)

Chanio: A long skirt (‘Ghagra’ worn by girls and women with or without ‘odhani’, also known as dupatta)

Choli: A blouse (women typically wore along with chanio - called chaniya-choli)

Choro: A raised platform (at the entrance of the town, where elders of the town sat)

Cricket: A British ‘ball & bat’ game (played in England and many other countries)

 

Dada: Grandfather (paternal or could be maternal, also called ‘Nana,’ or addressing any respected old man)

Dal: Any dry split beans (with or without skin of the beans); A spicy liquid soup item (prepared almost daily using one of the split beans); A spicy fried or roasted snack item (served as a snack ‘Namkeen’, stored for a longer period)

Dand: A modified Surya namaskar yoga asana (performed daily as an exercise routine)

Datan: A small but fresh wooden bawadia stick (used for chewing and for brushing teeth); A large sunken earthen pot (used as a latrine in villages)

Degdas: Multiple large brass metal pots for carrying and storing water

Dhol: A drum of various sizes (to accompany rhythm for songs and music in general)

Dhoti: A five-yard-long cloth (wrapped by men in place of pants often called ‘dhotiyu’)

Divashari: A matchstick or a matchbox (Diva ‘light’ - derived from the work ‘Divo’ + Stick ‘shari’ to light fire)

Divo: An oil lamp (for illumination or ritually lighted during any religious activity)

 

Fanas: A kerosene lamp (a portable glass lamp with a metal tank and a handle)

Foi: Father’s sister

Fua: Father’s sister’s husband

 

Gadyu: Sweet in taste (think and visualize ‘Sugar’ but Gujarati’s think of ‘gol-jaggery’)

Gam: A village (small rural farming town)

Ghant: A bell (typically used in a school and a temple)

Ghar: House (My ghar or our ghar means home)

Ghee: Boiled and clarified butter (looks yellow white after hardening at room temperature)

Ghoogra: Small bells (used around cow’s and bullock’s neck)

Gokhlo: A small square indentation in the wall (to place an oil lamp or even ‘Jungaliyu’)

Gol: A soft red-brown lump of raw cane sugar (jaggery served at auspicious occasions)

Gujarda: A small about four inches tall conical clay object (freshly made for a wedding ritual)

Guy: Cow (whose milk is used for religious ‘Puja’ rituals or whose body is considered a vehicle for Goddess ‘Usha’)

 

Holo: A ‘dove’ bird (a soft cooing brown bird with a black ringneck)

 

Jungle: A forest (any wild open land with trees and brush)

Jungliyu: A water pot (used in the farm for washing after going to toilet - ‘To go to jungle’)

 

Kachu: Raw food (freshly picked or harvested food, ground flour, soaked grain or boiled)

Kadhi: A hot yogurt soup (typically eaten with ‘Bhaat’ or ‘Moriya’)

Kadvu: Bitter in taste (imparted by some vegetables, spices and most handmade medicines)

Kaka: Father’s brother (the word added to father’s friend’s name or person of same age)

Kaki: Father’s brother’s wife (Kaka’s wife)

Kabootar: Pigeon (almost all towns build a place to feed this prolific bird)

Kagado: Crow (considered a smart black bird and an ancestor representative)

Kathor: A whole bean menu item (in dry or in gravy form eaten with ‘Roti’) 

Khadiyo: Kerosene lamp (used for lighting vs. Divo used for puja requiring oil or ghee)

Kharu: Salty in taste (think and visualize ‘salt’) 

Khatu: Sour in taste (think and visualize ‘lemon’)

Khetar: A farm (land actively growing crops or an open space hard to farm or abandoned)

Kheti: Farming (growing crops for food or cash crop such as cotton and tobacco)

Kho Kho: A ‘run and tag’ team game (played competitively between two wooden poles)

Kotha: Wood apples (a round hard shelled, greenish-brown fruit used for chutney making)

Kothro: A bag (made from Jute to fill and carry grains, fruits or vegetables)

Kusti: A wrestling game (played between two players in a square dirt ring)

Kutaro: Street dog (treated almost as a pet, stray farm dog treated nicely but kept away)

 

Lagan: A wedding ceremony (celebration with tasty food, music and dancing. Also getting into trance like state (not realizing presence of time, space or people)

Lakh: Count of one hundred thousand (written as 1,00,000 or 1 lakh. Also, red resin material, often used as seal for official document or for tamper-proofing)

Lakhoti: Marbles (made of glass, stones or perhaps even dried clay and seeds)

Lipan: A clay floor surface (made from a mixture of clay and cow dung, in a continuous half-rounded pattern, forming light ridges to highlight the pattern)

 

Ma: Mother or Mom (also refer to the word ‘Baa’)

Man: A measure of weight for forty pounds

Maji: An old lady and a respected name to address an old lady when you do not know her name

Mankad: Bed bug (a ‘lady bug’ sized bug that is thin in the evening and fattened with blood by morning)

Maakhan: Butter (in villages, it’s only fluffy white and freshly churned butter)

Mama: Mother’s brother (the word is added with other males from the mother’s village)

Mami: Mother’s brother’s wife (Mama’s wife)

Masi: Mother’s sister (mother’s friends or women born in her village)

Matlu: A round earthen pot (for storing drinking water)

Moriya: A grey, thick, flat, unleavened and roasted bread made of millet (bajra rotla)

 

Nag: Cobra (though poisonous is revered as a religious symbol of Lord Shiva)

Nagolchi: A country ‘knock & stack’ game (played with a ball and seven flat stones)

Namkeen: Any one of the varieties of spicy snacks (roasted but mostly fried)

Nanu: Small (may be used as an endearing term for a little boy)

Nyay Mandir: Court or literally means ‘temple of justice.’

 

Odhani: A long soft rectangular cloth (worn by women around neck, shoulders and/or head)

Om: A religious symbol (also an auspicious sound uttered in Yoga or religious rituals)

Otlo: The front porch of a house (used for sitting, watching and gathering)

 

Paisa: Coin (the smallest denomination of Indian currency, a round coin with a hole)

Pado: Male buffalo (typically considered useless except for breeding)

Papad: A thin, round, flat, spicy, and dried disc (made from urad black bean)

Patel: Head or leader of a village (acquiring family surname)

Peda: A sweet (a ball or disc made of concentrated, condensed, and sweet milk)

Podro: Cow or buffalo’s dung (a green-gooey, fibrous, and warm dropping)

Pole: Street in gujarati rod (not the typical English word for a rod)

Prasad: An offering to a deity (some food, usually some sweets or fruits)

Puri: A fried wheat bread (a small, flattened dough disc, fried in hot oil)

 

Rajmahal: Royal palace (architectural residence, a monument, or a fort, built by royalty

Rajgira: It means royal grain also known as ramdana.  In English, it’s Amaranth.       

Rakhi: A cotton thread (as a token of a sister’s love, it is tied around her brother’s wrist)

Rashi: An astrological sign (each sign has three letters assigned for naming a person with)

Roti/Rotli: A flat unleavened roasted bread (made of wheat but sometimes of other grains)

Rupee: Indian currency (commonly referred to the largest coin, but also mostly comes in paper notes)

 

Sabashi: A complement (‘A pat on the back’ called ‘Dhabbo’)

Saak: Any one of the spicy vegetable menu items (boiled, sauteed, fried or in gravy form)

Sap: A snake (all kinds, poisonous or non-poisonous, including ‘Cobra’ and ‘Python’)

Sari: A six-yard-long cloth (draped by women in many forms and styles)

Sarovar: A lake (a body of water known for its natural beauty, flowers, and birds)

Sathio: A religious Hindu symbol (a mirror image of Swastika)

Shehnai: A reeded wind instrument (played during parties, weddings, and religious rituals)

Sher: A measure of weight (equivalent to a pound in weight)

Shrikhand: A sweetened drained yogurt (garnished with saffron and crushed nuts)

 

Tadelu: Fried food (typically reserved for making snacks ‘Namkeens’)

Talav: A pond (a body of water in a village equally shared by people, animals, and birds)

Taru: Padlock (for locking a house, a closet, a chest or even a bag)

Tikhu: Hot in taste (think and visualize ‘spicy hot pepper’)

Todlo: A protruded wooden beam (often seen in decorated form on sides of front door)

 

Ukardo: A mound of cow and buffalo droppings (in early spring used as farm fertilizer)

Umbaro: A beam on the bottom of wooden doors - thick weathered block used as a door seal or threshold (typically to cross over but never to step on)       

 

Vad: A banyan tree is a wild fig tree. Older trees send aerial prop roots which can become indistinguishable from the primary trunk with age. 

Vadi: A small, dried dropping (mixture of ground beans with spices)

 

Wadi: A small vegetable and flower garden (tended in a farm or a backyard)

Wood Apple: A hard-shelled round fruit (green-brown, soft edible seeds, sour taste, for chutney making) 

 

Zad: A tree (a generic term for any number of trees)

Zadi: Bush (any growth of underbrush in or around town, farm, or forest)

Zaverat: Gemstones (‘hira manek’ including jewelry made from gemstones)

Zaveri: A person dealing with jewelry & gemstones (acquiring family surname)