Meaning & use
Pathan
A member of the Pashtun ethnic group, native to Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan; a term used especially in South Asian English.
See it in a sentence
His grandfather, a Pathan from the Peshawar region, told stories about tribal customs.
The novel follows a Pathan family that moves from the mountains to a crowded city.
A note on using this word
Pathan is the term traditionally used in South Asian English, while Pashtun is the term the group itself uses and is now standard in most international contexts.
Words with a similar meaning
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