# Hindi/Urdu: pumpkin



## Wolverine9

What is the word for pumpkin?  Dictionaries seem to use the word pumpkin in a general sense for any squash/gourd because I've even seen the word ghiiyaa defined as a pumpkin in some dictionaries.  So let me clarify.  By pumpkin, I mean the large, round orange-colored vegetable/fruit that is used to make pies and other sweets in the U.S. and in India/Pakistan is used to make a certain type of halwa and perhaps a sabzii too.

Is the correct term kadduu, siitaaphal, peThaa, or something else?


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## greatbear

Kadduu is pumpkin. "PeThaa" is ash gourd (white pumpkin); siitaaphal is sugar-apple. Ghiiyaa is used for _lauki _(bottle gourd).


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## Alfaaz

In Urdu, we would have similar usages as listed above by greatbear. One can probably hear کدو _kadduu_ also being used kind of like a generic term for (other) squash as well. Some also seem to use حلوہ کدو _Halwah kadduu_ for _pumpkin_. Additionally, there is قرع _qaraa_ (from Arabic) and ماء القرع _maa-ul-qaraa_ for the juice, used in medicine.


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## Qureshpor

I am grateful to Wolverine9 for asking this question about what a "pumpkin" is in Hindi or Urdu. There is bound to be some overlap in the replies but I too would like some clarity, if possible, from our forum friends.

For me the "pumpkin" which is associated with Halloween is not the "pumpkin" which is cooked in the form of curry in my household, normally with lamb/mutton but it can be cooked on its own. If someone were to ask me what had been prepared, I would say "kadduu gosht". So, the "kadduu" we are cooking is not this "pumpkin". This "pumpkin" would be "peThaa" and I hasten to add, this could be a Punjabi word. From peThaa, when it is cooked on rare occasions, one makes "Halvaa" i.e a sweet dish. I won't go into detail as to what our "kadduu" looks like just yet. I'll wait for more contributions from forum members.


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## lcfatima

I don't believe this orange N. American pumkin exists as a desi vegetable. (Is it a New World vegetable?)  Kaddu is a useful enough word. I might say miiTha kaddu, but that could also imply butternut squash since it is sweet when cooked and non-desi squash. Kaddu and peTha as they exist as desi vegetables look different than the orange Amriikan kaddu.


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## panjabigator

QURESHPOR said:


> . This "pumpkin" would be "peThaa" and I hasten to add, this could be a Punjabi word. From peThaa, when it is cooked on rare occasions, one makes "Halvaa" i.e a sweet dish.



Thanks for this, QP Sahib. I had pumpkin in a cubed form and served to me as a savory sabzi in India and my Punjabi friends would call it "peṭhā." I'm only familiar with Agre kā peṭhā, which I find absolutely abhorrent, but that's a subject for another conversation. 

I've never heard "peṭhā" used for sabzī by Urdu speakers before. Maybe it's just Punjabi?


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## UrduMedium

lcfatima said:


> I don't believe this orange N. American pumkin exists as a desi vegetable. (Is it a New World vegetable?)  Kaddu is a useful enough word. I might say miiTha kaddu, but that could also imply butternut squash since it is sweet when cooked and non-desi squash. Kaddu and peTha as they exist as desi vegetables look different than the orange Amriikan kaddu.



_miiThaa kadduu_ exists as a standard name for something that does not look exactly like an American Pumpkin but arguably close to it. It has a harder leaf-green + pale mosaic/splash kind of an exterior. It's typically bigger than _kadduu_. Seems like it is also called _kaashii phal.
_
I think either _miiThaa kadduu_ or _kaashii phal_ would be a good translation for pumpkin. 

See here for an image.


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## marrish

QURESHPOR said:


> [...]For me the "pumpkin" which is associated with Halloween is not the "pumpkin" which is cooked in the form of curry in my household, normally with lamb/mutton but it can be cooked on its own. If someone were to ask me what had been prepared, I would say "kadduu gosht". *So, the "kadduu" we are cooking is not this "pumpkin". This "pumpkin" would be "peThaa" and I hasten to add, this could be a Punjabi word.* From peThaa, when it is cooked on rare occasions, one makes "Halvaa" i.e a sweet dish. I won't go into detail as to what our "kadduu" looks like just yet. I'll wait for more contributions from forum members.


I agree fully with your remarks that _kadduu_ is a different thing. In my Urdu, however I don't know how what is meant by N. American vegetable, but at least what I saw in Europe, is called *peThaa*. If you say it is a Punjabi word, it seems it is the same in Urdu.


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## marrish

Wolverine9 said:


> What is the word for pumpkin?  Dictionaries seem to use the word pumpkin in a general sense for any squash/gourd because I've even seen the word ghiiyaa defined as a pumpkin in some dictionaries.  So let me clarify.  By pumpkin, I mean the large, round orange-colored vegetable/fruit that is used to make pies and other sweets in the U.S. and in India/Pakistan is used to make a certain type of halwa and perhaps a sabzii too.
> 
> Is the correct term kadduu, siitaaphal, peThaa, or something else?


For Hindi, Wikipedia uses कुम्हड़ा _kumhaRaa_.


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## marrish

For Punjabi, a word is coming to my mind, but I'm not sure about it, _Thippar_.


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## BP.

QURESHPOR said:


> `...This "pumpkin" would be "peThaa" and I hasten to add, this could be a Punjabi word. From peThaa, when it is cooked on rare occasions, one makes "Halvaa" i.e a sweet dish. ...


We do get peeThee kii miThaa2ii from the Halwa2ii, so I'm not sure of peThaa's origin. I tink it is the same vegetable as miiThaa kadduu.


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## greatbear

For me, kashiiphal and kadduu are the same; "peThaa" is ash gourd, which is also used in south India in Dussehra customs coincidentally mirroring Halloween (no relation to the latter, as these are very ancient southern customs).


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## Wolverine9

lcfatima said:


> I don't believe this orange N. American pumkin exists as a desi vegetable. (Is it a New World vegetable?)



It's native to the New World but now exists worldwide, including the subcontinent, which is a major production region according to Wikipedia.


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## Wolverine9

panjabigator said:


> Maybe it's just Punjabi?



PeThaa is mentioned in Platts and various other Hindi and Urdu dictionaries, but it may not necessarily mean the same thing in Hindi/Urdu and Punjabi.


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## greatbear

Well, in north India, peThaa is mainly used for making sweets, as in Agre kaa peThaa; but in south, it is used as a vegetable. Both are ash gourd (white pumpkin).


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## Wolverine9

QURESHPOR said:


> I am grateful to Wolverine9 for asking this question about what a "pumpkin" is in Hindi or Urdu. There is bound to be some overlap in the replies but I too would like some clarity, if possible, from our forum friends.
> 
> For me the "pumpkin" which is associated with Halloween is not the "pumpkin" which is cooked in the form of curry in my household, normally with lamb/mutton but it can be cooked on its own. If someone were to ask me what had been prepared, I would say "kadduu gosht". So, the "kadduu" we are cooking is not this "pumpkin". This "pumpkin" would be "peThaa" and I hasten to add, this could be a Punjabi word. From peThaa, when it is cooked on rare occasions, one makes "Halvaa" i.e a sweet dish. I won't go into detail as to what our "kadduu" looks like just yet. I'll wait for more contributions from forum members.



Can you describe what the kadduu that you're referring to looks like now?


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## Qureshpor

Wolverine9 said:


> Can you describe what the kadduu that you're referring to looks like now?



Top row, from left to right, third image. I don't know if there are any other Punjabis on the forum who can also endorse that a large "kadduu" (hollowed out of course), was used as the "body" in a stringed instrument called "king". 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=k...Gb1AX__IDIDg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=653


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