خنجر

Arabic

Etymology

From Persian خنجر (xanjar).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xan.d͡ʒar/

Noun

خَنْجَر • (ḵanjar) m (plural خَنَاجِر (ḵanājir))

1. dagger

Declension

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خَنْجَر ḵanjar	الْخَنْجَر al-ḵanjar	خَنْجَر ḵanjar
Nominative	خَنْجَرٌ ḵanjarun	الْخَنْجَرُ al-ḵanjaru	خَنْجَرُ ḵanjaru
Accusative	خَنْجَرًا ḵanjaran	الْخَنْجَرَ al-ḵanjara	خَنْجَرَ ḵanjara
Genitive	خَنْجَرٍ ḵanjarin	الْخَنْجَرِ al-ḵanjari	خَنْجَرِ ḵanjari
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خَنْجَرَيْن ḵanjarayn	الْخَنْجَرَيْن al-ḵanjarayn	خَنْجَرَيْ ḵanjaray
Nominative	خَنْجَرَانِ ḵanjarāni	الْخَنْجَرَانِ al-ḵanjarāni	خَنْجَرَا ḵanjarā
Accusative	خَنْجَرَيْنِ ḵanjarayni	الْخَنْجَرَيْنِ al-ḵanjarayni	خَنْجَرَيْ ḵanjaray
Genitive	خَنْجَرَيْنِ ḵanjarayni	الْخَنْجَرَيْنِ al-ḵanjarayni	خَنْجَرَيْ ḵanjaray
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خَنَاجِر ḵanājir	الْخَنَاجِر al-ḵanājir	خَنَاجِر ḵanājir
Nominative	خَنَاجِرُ ḵanājiru	الْخَنَاجِرُ al-ḵanājiru	خَنَاجِرُ ḵanājiru
Accusative	خَنَاجِرَ ḵanājira	الْخَنَاجِرَ al-ḵanājira	خَنَاجِرَ ḵanājira
Genitive	خَنَاجِرَ ḵanājira	الْخَنَاجِرِ al-ḵanājiri	خَنَاجِرِ ḵanājiri

Declension of noun خَنْجَر (ḵanjar)

Derived terms

• أَلِف خَنْجَرِيَّة (ʔalif ḵanjariyya, “dagger alif”)

Descendants

• → Czech: chandžar
• → English: khanjar
• → French: kangiar, cangiar, kandjar
• → Polish: chandżar, handżar
• → Portuguese: alfanje, alfange (Portugal), canjar, khanjar
• → Slovak: handžár
• → Spanish: alfanje, janyar
• → Tigre: ከንጀር (känǧär)
• → Thai: กั้นหยั่น (gân-yàn)

Ottoman Turkish

خنجر

Alternative forms

• خنچار (hançar), خنچر (hançer)

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian خنجر (xanjar, “dagger”).

Noun

خنجر • (hancar or hancer) (definite accusative خنجری (hanceri), plural خنجرلر (hancerler))

1. dagger, poniard, a stabbing weapon, similar to a sword but with a short, double-edged blade

   Synonym: دشنه (deşne)

2. khanjar, a kind of traditional dagger used in Arabic countries whose shape resembles a hook

Derived terms

• خنجر الماس (hancer elmas, “diamond chip or crystal”)
• خنجر امام (hancer imam, “thorn in the flesh”)
• خنجر اورمق (hancer urmak, “to stab with a dagger”)
• خنجر زر (hancer-i zer, “sunbeam”)
• خنجر صبح (hancer-i subh, “sunbeam”)
• خنجرلی (hancerli, “armed with a dagger”)
• خنجره دوشمك (hancere düşmek, “to be stabbed with a dagger”)
• خنجری (hancerî, “pertaining to a dagger”)
• یوكرك خنجر (yüğrük hancer, “sharp dagger”)

Descendants

• Turkish: hançer
• → Belarusian: ханджа́р (xandžár)
• → Bulgarian: ханджа́р (handžár)
• → Old Czech: končier
  • Czech: končíř
  • Slovak: končiar, končur
• → Hungarian: handzsár
  • Czech: handžár
• → Italian: canciàro, canciàrro, cangiàro
• → Macedonian: а́нџар (ándžar)
• → Polish: koncerz
• → Romanian: hanger
• → Russian: ханджа́р (xandžár)
• → Serbo-Croatian: hàndžār / ха̀нџа̄р
  • → German: Handschar
• → Sicilian: canciarru
• → Ukrainian: ханджа́р (xandžár)
• → Venetan: ganzar

Further reading

• Barbier de Meynard, Charles (1881) “خنجر”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, volume I, Paris: E. Leroux, page 713
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “hançer”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 1863
• Hindoglu, Artin (1838) “خنجر”, in Hazine-i lûgat ou dictionnaire abrégé turc-français‎, Vienna: F. Beck, page 212b
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “خنجر”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎, Constantinople: Mihran, page 552
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Pugio”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎, Vienna, column 1401
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “خنجر”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎, Vienna, column 1950
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “hançer”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “خنجر”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 866

Persian

Alternative forms

• خنچر (xančer)

Etymology

From Middle Persian [Term?]; compare Manichaean Parthian [Manichaean needed] (xnjyr /⁠xenjer⁠/), [Manichaean needed] (hynjyr /⁠henjer⁠/, “dagger”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [xan.ˈd͡ʒaɾ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [xän.d͡ʒǽɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [xän.d͡ʒǽɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [xän.d͡ʒǽɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [xän.d͡ʒǽɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [xæn.d͡ʒǽɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [χän.d͡ʒǽɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	xanjar
Dari reading?	xanjar
Iranian reading?	xanjar
Tajik reading?	xanjar

Noun

Dari	خنجر
Iranian Persian
Tajik	ханҷар

خنجر • (xanjar) (plural خنجرها (xanjar-hâ))

1. dagger, khanjar

Descendants

• → Arabic: خَنْجَر (ḵanjar)
  • → Czech: chandžar
  • → English: khanjar
  • → French: kangiar, cangiar, kandjar
  • → Polish: chandżar, handżar
  • → Portuguese: alfanje, alfange (Portugal), canjar, khanjar
  • → Slovak: handžár
  • → Spanish: alfanje, janyar
  • → Tigre: ከንጀር (känǧär)
  • → Thai: กั้นหยั่น (gân-yàn)
• → Middle Armenian: խանճալ (xančal), խանճար (xančar), խանչալ (xančʻal), խանչար (xančʻar), խանջալ (xanǰal), խանջար (xanǰar)
  • Armenian: խանչալ (xančʻal)
• → Azerbaijani: xəncər
• → Georgian: ხანჯალი (xanǯali), ხანჯარი (xanǯari)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: ख़ंजर (xañjar)

  Urdu: خنجر (xañjar)

• → Kazakh: қанжар (qanjar)
• → Kumyk: хынжал (xınjal)
• → Kyrgyz: канжар (kanjar)
• → Nepali: खञ्जर् (khañjar)
• → Nogai: кынжал (kınjal)
• → Old East Slavic: кончарь (končarĭ), кончакъ (končakŭ), коньчякъ (konĭčjakŭ), концакъ (koncakŭ), коньцакъ (konĭcakŭ), кончѣръ (končěrŭ), кочань (kočanĭ) (via Turkic)
  • Belarusian: кінжа́л (kinžál)
  • Russian: кинжа́л (kinžál), канжа́р (kanžár), ханжа́р (xanžár), конче́рь (končérʹ)
    • Polish: kindżał
  • Ukrainian: кинджа́л (kyndžál), кінча́к (kinčák)
• → Classical Syriac: ܚܢܓܪܐ (ḥangərā)
• → Crimean Tatar: къанджер, ханджер, гъанджер
• → Tatar: хәнҗәр (xäncär)
• → Ottoman Turkish: خنجر (hancer), خنچار (hançar), خنچر (hançer)
  • Turkish: hançer
  • → Belarusian: ханджа́р (xandžár)
  • → Bulgarian: ханджа́р (handžár)
  • → Old Czech: končier
    • Czech: končíř
    • Slovak: končiar, končur
  • → Hungarian: handzsár
    • Czech: handžár
  • → Italian: canciàro, canciàrro, cangiàro
  • → Macedonian: а́нџар (ándžar)
  • → Polish: koncerz
  • → Romanian: hanger
  • → Russian: ханджа́р (xandžár)
  • → Serbo-Croatian: hàndžār / ха̀нџа̄р
    • → German: Handschar
  • → Sicilian: canciarru
  • → Ukrainian: ханджа́р (xandžár)
  • → Venetan: ganzar
• → Turkmen: hancar

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic خَنْجَر (ḵanjar).

Noun

خنجر • (ḵanjar) m (plural خناجر (ḵanājer))

1. dagger

Urdu

شہنشاہ اورنگزیب کا خنجر

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian خَنْجَر (xanjar). First attested in c. 1564 as Middle Hindi خنجر (xnjr /⁠xañjar⁠/).^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /xən.d͡ʒəɾ/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əɾ
• Hyphenation: خَن‧جَر

Noun

خَن٘جَر • (xañjar) m (Hindi spelling ख़ंजर)

1. dagger, khanjar

   Synonyms: چاقُو (cāqū), چُھری (churī)

   • 1983, افتخار عارف [Iftikhar Arif], مہرِ دو نیم [mihr-i do nīm]‎, page 60:

     قاتل جِس کی زَد سے خُود محفُوظ رہ سکے ایسا کوئی خنجر نہیں دیکھا بہُت دنوں سے

     qātil jis kī zad se xūd maḥfūz̤ rah sake aisā ko'ī xanjar nahīṉ dekhā bahut dinoṉ se

     an assassin who can remain safe from his own blows – I've not seen such a dagger in some time now

2. (Sufism) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Declension

Declension of خنجر

	singular	plural
direct	خَن٘جَر (xañjar)	خَن٘جَر (xañjar)
oblique	خَن٘جَر (xañjar)	خَن٘جَروں (xañjarõ)
vocative	خَن٘جَر (xañjar)	خَن٘جَرو (xañjaro)

Derived terms

• تَہِ خَنْجَرِ عِشْق (tah-i xanjar-i 'iśq, “enamored”, literally “under the dagger of love”)
• خَنجَر دار (“dagger-holder”)
• خَنجَر زَن (“dagger-fighter”)
• خَنجَر زَنِی (xanjar zanī, “dagger-fighting”)
• خَنجَرِ آبدار (xanjar-i ābdār, “sharp dagger”)
• ناخُن خَنجَر (“tip of a dagger”)

References

1. “خنجر”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.

Further reading

• “خنجر”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “خنجر”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]