India
- 1A country in South Asia, officially the Republic of India, with its capital at New Delhi.
India shares land borders with six countries, among them Pakistan, China and Bangladesh.
The film crew flew to India to document the great rivers of the north.
Note
The name of the modern republic carries a long journey in its form. Sanskrit síndhu passed through Old Persian hiⁿdūš to Greek Indós. Greek then added the suffix -ia to make Indía, which Latin borrowed as India. The country also goes by Bharat and Hindustan. Because the same name also covers the wider subcontinent, especially in histories, context shows which is meant: ancient India is not the modern republic.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- The name derives from Sanskrit síndhu through Old Persian hiⁿdūš and Greek Indós. en.wiktionary.org
- Greek Indía was formed from Indós with the suffix -ia. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin borrowed Greek Indía as India. en.wiktionary.org
- Bharat and Hindustan are alternative names for the country. en.wiktionary.org
- Historically, India can denote the broader subcontinent rather than the territory of the modern republic. en.wikipedia.org
- 2The Indian subcontinent, a region of South Asia traditionally bounded by the Himalayas and the Indus River.
The earliest cities of India grew up along great river valleys thousands of years ago.
From the Indus to the Ganges, the great rivers of India have fed farmers across the region for thousands of years.
Similarsubcontinent
Note
Here the name covers geography rather than a state: the whole landmass south of the Himalayas and reaching west to the Indus, as older histories use it. It remains standard in historical writing, as in ancient India or Mughal India. Where a reader might think of the present-day republic, the Indian subcontinent or South Asia makes the region explicit.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- The subcontinent extends south from the Himalayas into the Indian Ocean, including the Indus basin and the peninsula; the stated boundaries do not describe the whole region. ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in
- Historical sources use India for the broader geographic region. en.wikipedia.org
- 3A territory of the British Empire that chiefly comprised the modern-day countries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and, until 1937, Burma.
From 1858 until 1911, the viceroy governed India from Calcutta.
Raw materials drawn from India were central to imperial trade networks.
SimilarRaj
Note
A name from imperial administration, when a single colonial territory took in most of present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and Burma until 1937. In histories of the period, India alone often carries this meaning, so a sentence about the viceroy's India is not about the modern republic. Where the difference matters, the fuller form British India makes it explicit.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The imperial territory covered most of present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. en.wikipedia.org
- Burma remained part of the territory until 1937. en.wikipedia.org
- India was a name for the territory under British control. en.wikipedia.org
- British India can identify the historical territory, although its strict administrative meaning excluded the princely states. en.wiktionary.org
Use it in a sentence
Write your own sentence with India, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.
Origin
The name goes back to Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš ('river'), passing through Sanskrit सिन्धु (sindhu) and Old Persian hiⁿdūš to Ancient Greek Ἰνδός (Indós, the Indus river). Greek formed Ἰνδία (Indía), which entered Latin as India. Modern English India was reshaped on the Latin model from Middle English Inde and Ynde (taken mainly from Old French Ynde), though it may also partly continue Old English India.