- any very wealthy, influential, or powerful person.
- Also, nawab. a person, especially a European, who has made a large fortune in India or another country of the East.
1612, "deputy governor in Mogul Empire," Anglo-Indian, from Hindi nabab, from Arabic nuwwab, honorific pl. of na'ib "viceroy, deputy," from base n-w-b "to take someone's place." Also used of Europeans who came home from India having made a fortune there, hence "very rich man" (1764). (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nabob)
"The devotees of refined culture had long since left for the metropolis, some in terror, others in exultation... The only old nabob still in the state was de la Torre y Mier, released from the Mexico City penitentiary but kept out of pocket and under house arrest in Cuautla."
- John Womack, Zapata and the Mexican Revolution
No comments:
Post a Comment