Ur|du

Ur|du «UR doo, UR-; ur DOO, ur-», noun.

a language belonging to the Indic group. The official written language of Pakistan, it is also used widely in India. Urdu is very similar to Hindi, but developed in a Muslim cultural environment under the influence of Persian, rather than Sanskrit, and is usually written in Persian script.

╂[< Hindustani (zaban-i-) urdū (language of) camp Persian; urdū, ultimately < Turkic ordu army, or Tartar urda. Compare etym. under horde. (Cf. ↑horde)]