Khansamas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person employed as a cook or steward, especially in South Asian households or military establishments, responsible for preparing and serving meals
2. An individual serving as a culinary attendant or domestic helper in charge of kitchen duties within traditional settings, often linked to Indian or Pakistani cultures
3. Someone who acts as the chief cook or kitchen steward, typically in a household or camp, overseeing food preparation and meal service tasks in South Asian contexts

Etymology: "Khansamas" is simply the plural of "khansama", the English form of a Hindustani and Urdu noun for a household cook or kitchen steward. The plural ending follows the English pattern of adding "s" to a noun, so readers meeting it in older travel writing or colonial accounts are looking at the same word that appears in its singular form elsewhere. The singular "khansama" is the word that carries the history. It names a man who runs the cooking and meal service of a household or a camp, and in British India it became a standard job title in European households, where the khansama often supervised the kitchen staff. Because the role was so common in those accounts, the plural appears frequently in writing about the period.

Synonyms: steward, butler, majordomo