Definition of "naik" in English

noun

1. A lord or governor in South Asia.

2. (India, Pakistan, Nepal) A non-commissioned officer equivalent to corporal in a corps of Indian, Pakistani or Nepalese soldiers.

   • 1888: Also, he had to keep his temper … especially once when he was abused by a Naik he had himself recruited from Isser Jang village — Rudyard Kipling, ‘Miss Youghal's Sais’, Plain Tales from the Hills (Folio Society 2007, p. 26)