कुश

Meaning

Drawing, absorbing, or enduring; also slaying or eradicating.

Detailed Meaning

In Persian and Urdu, this bound morpheme functions as an agentive suffix deriving either from 'kashīdan' (to draw, bear, absorb) as '-kash', or from 'kushtan' (to slay, destroy) as '-kush'. In this couplet of Ghalib, it forms part of the compound 'kudūrat-kash' (often vocalized or printed in Devnagari as 'kush'), describing how a delicate mirror instantly absorbs cloudiness or tarnishing from a mere breath.

Etymology

Persian suffix کش (kash / kush), verbal stem of kashīdan (to pull/endure) or kushtan (to kill).

Usage

Commonly appended to Persian nouns in Urdu ghazal poetry to form compound adjectives signifying one who absorbs, draws, suffers, or eradicates an emotion or state.

Examples

Synonyms

Related Words