sepoy

Etymology

From Portuguese sipae, from Urdu سپاہی (sipāhī)/Hindi सिपाही (sipāhī), from Classical Persian سپاهی (sipāhi, “soldier, horseman”), from سپاه (sipāh, “army”). Doublet of spahi.

noun

1. (historical, military) A native soldier of the East Indies, employed in the service of a European colonial power, notably the British India army (first under the British-chartered East India Company, later in the crown colony), but also France and Portugal.
   They proved to be the wives of a body of sepoys, also from the 5th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry; the sepoys had perished, and their families been enslaved, when their pattamar had been captured by the Qawasim some months before. 1997, Charles E. Davies, The Blood-red Arab Flag: An Investigation Into Qasimi Piracy, 1797-1820, University of Exeter Press, page 312
2. (India, Pakistan, Nepal) The holder of an infantry enlisted rank equivalent to private in other countries.