sepoy

American  

[see-poi] / ˈsi pɔɪ /

noun

1. (formerly, in India) a soldier, usually an infantryman, in the service of Europeans, especially of the British.

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sepoy British  

/ ˈsiːpɔɪ /

noun

1. (formerly) an Indian soldier in the service of the British

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Etymology

Origin of sepoy

First recorded in 1675–85, in sense “horseman”; 1710–20 for current sense; variant of sipahi from Urdu, from Persian sipāhī “horseman, soldier,” derivative of sipāh “army”; cf. spahi

Explanation

During the Mughal Empire in India, a soldier armed with a musket was called a sepoy. Today, modern armies in some countries use the term sepoy for a private. If you're a regular entry-level soldier in Nepal, India, or Pakistan, you're a sepoy. The word has a Persian root, sipahi, which means "soldier or horseman." In early modern South Asia, sepoys belonged to infantry forces, riding on horseback and carrying a musket and a curved sword called a talwar. In the 19th century, sepoys made up the vast majority of the British East India Company's troops.

Example Sentences

Khan was a sepoy in the British Indian Army.

From BBC • Sep. 29, 2025

Mr. Sehrawat, a sepoy, says acclimatizing to duty at the Nathu La post, which is 15,000 feet above sea level, was a challenge.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2016

Kesri is a sepoy, a native soldier in the British East India Company's army.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2015

The governor of Bombay, Mountstuart Elphinstone, referred to the sepoy army as “a delicate and dangerous machine, which a little mismanagement may easily turn against us.”

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

On a day in January, 1857, a sepoy was sitting by a well in the cantonment of Dum-Dum, near Calcutta.

From The Red Year A Story of the Indian Mutiny by Tracy, Louis