sahib means A term of respect for a white European or other man of rank in colonial India. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 78 out of 100.
Why “sahib” is a great word
SAHIB — [Noun] A deferential title used in colonial India to address or refer to a white European man or a person of authority and rank. From Hindustani صاحب / साहिब (sāhib, "lord"), from Classical Persian صاحب (sāhib), from Arabic صَاحِب (ṣāḥib, "companion, friend"). First attested in English in 1673. Unlike memsahib, which specifically denotes a European lady of rank, or sir, a general honorific unburdened by a colonial past, sahib carries the precise gravity of a ruling caste. It is the stiff salute of a sepoy at a cantonment gate, the rustle of official paper in a District Office, and the frozen, expectant silence of a servant awaiting an order—a single syllable that built its authority on the unspoken work of others.
noun
- A term of respect for a white European or other man of rank in colonial India.“One day when the Man's Wife and the Tertium Quid had just arrived in the Cemetery, they saw some coolies breaking ground. They had marked out a full-size grave, and the Tertium Quid asked them whether any Sahib was sick. They said that they did not know; but it was an order that they should dig a Sahib's grave.”