A washerman or launderer, especially in India. Someone whose occupation is washing clothes, typically by hand at a riverbank or washing place.
From Hindi धोबी (dhobī), derived from the verb धोना (dhonā) meaning 'to wash'. The word comes from Sanskrit धाव (dhāva) meaning 'to wash' or 'to cleanse'. British colonials adopted this term in the 18th-19th centuries when referring to the essential service of clothes washing in the Indian subcontinent, where dhobis formed a distinct occupational caste.
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