Dhoby

/ˈdoʊbi/ noun

Definition

A variant spelling of dhobi; a person in South Asia whose profession involves washing and laundering clothes for paying customers.

Etymology

Another variant romanization of the Hindi word dhobi, used alongside dhobi, dhobie, and dhobey in English colonial and historical texts.

Kelly Says

Colonial British officials created confusion by using multiple spellings—dhobi, dhobie, dhobey, and dhoby—for the same word. Some historical texts switch between these randomly within the same book!

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