noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The elected head of a panchayat (village government) in Bangladesh, India, or Pakistan.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindi सरपंच (sarpañc), from Hindi सर (sar, “head”) / Urdu سر (sar, “head; chief”) (from Persian سر (sar, “head; chief, leader”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh2- (“head; top”)) + Hindi पंच (pañc, “five (number of people in a panchayat council)”) / Urdu پنچ (pañc); from Sanskrit पञ्च (pañca, “five”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pénkwe (“five”).
Across languages
Translations
7 source translations are retained for this English entry.
French:
sarpanch
— elected head of a panchayat
Gujarati:
સરપંચ
(sarpañc)
— elected head of a panchayat
Hindi:
सरपंच
(sarpañc)
— elected head of a panchayat
Malayalam:
സർപാഞ്ച്
(saṟpāñcŭ)
— elected head of a panchayat
Marathi:
सरपंच,सर्पञ्च
(sarpañca,sarpañca)
— elected head of a panchayat
Telugu:
సర్పంచి
(sarpañci)
— elected head of a panchayat