mofussil
English
Etymology
From Bengali মফস্বল (môphossôl, “divided”), from Persian مفصل (mufassal), from Arabic مُفَصَّل (mufaṣṣal), passive participle of فَصَّلَ (faṣṣala, “to divide, classify”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /məʊˈfʌs(ə)l/
Noun
mofussil (countable and uncountable, plural mofussils)
- (India) Originally, the regions of India outside the three East India Company capitals of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras; hence, parts of a country outside an urban centre; the regions, rural areas.
- 1904, Herbert Compton, Indian Life in Town and Country:
- Such are the means by which the Mofussil, “up-country,” or provincial Anglo-Indian will reach his station or district, and unless he is going to Bombay or Calcutta, which are practically the two entrance doors of the Empire, with Madras for a back door, his first experience of Anglo-Indian life will be of travel; and the land journey will often prove much more trying than the sea-voyage.
- 2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 3:
- His natural language was crass and of the mofussil, yet he could pepper it with smart turns of phrase on occasion.
- 1904, Herbert Compton, Indian Life in Town and Country:
Usage notes
The term is used widely in India and Bangladesh. Although value-neutral, the word occasionally carries negative connotations when used by residents of a large metropolis, similar to "the boonies" or "the sticks" in other dialects of English.
References
- Indian Life in Town and Country by Herbert Compton, 1904, Chapter 13
- Government of Andhra Pradesh: Motor Vehicles Act, 1988