क़साई (qasaaii)
noun
A single-sense word meaning 'butcher' -- the person who slaughters animals and sells meat, with a strong extended/figurative use for a cruel or merciless person.
Sense
1
:
butcher (person who slaughters animals and sells meat)
noun, masculine
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: In most Indian towns and neighborhoods, the क़साई (qasaaii) is a familiar local figure -- often Muslim by community tradition -- whose shop is a recognizable fixture near a बाज़ार (baazaar, market) or मोहल्ला (mohallaa, neighborhood). Because the trade involves killing animals, the word has picked up strong metaphorical weight for cruelty, discussed in the next sense.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes drop the nuqta and write कसाई (kasaaii) -- both spellings are heard, but क़साई (qasaaii) with the nuqta reflects the word's Persian/Arabic-derived pronunciation more precisely. 2) This word names an occupation, not a generic 'meat seller' -- a shop that only sells cut/packaged meat without slaughtering is still often called by this word colloquially, but the core image is of someone who does the cutting.
Sample Sentences:
हमारे मोहल्ले में एक क़साई की दुकान है।
There is a butcher's shop in our neighborhood.
(hamaare mohalle men ek qasaaii kii dukaan hai।)
क़साई रोज़ सुबह बकरे काटता है।
The butcher slaughters goats every morning.
(qasaaii roz subah bakre kaattaa hai।)
मैं क़साई की दुकान से मुर्गा लेने गया था।
I had gone to the butcher's shop to get chicken.
(main qasaaii kii dukaan se murgaa lene gayaa thaa।)
क़साई अभी मांस काट रहा है।
The butcher is cutting meat right now.
(qasaaii abhii maans kaat rahaa hai।)
क़साई से ताज़ा गोश्त ले आओ।
Go get fresh meat from the butcher.
(qasaaii se taazaa gosht le aao।)
बाज़ार में कई क़साइयों की दुकानें हैं।
There are several butchers' shops in the market.
(baazaar men kaii qasaaiyon kii dukaanen hain।)
अगर तुम्हें बकरे का मांस चाहिए, तो क़साई के पास जाओ।
If you want goat meat, go to the butcher.
(agar tumhen bakre kaa maans chaahie, to qasaaii ke paas jaao।)
मांस कल क़साई द्वारा काटा जाएगा।
The meat will be cut by the butcher tomorrow.
(maans kal qasaaii dvaaraa kaataa jaaegaa।)
उसका दादा पीढ़ियों से क़साई का काम करता था।
His grandfather had been working as a butcher for generations.
(uskaa daadaa piidhiyon se qasaaii kaa kaam kartaa thaa।)
काश वह क़साई का काम छोड़कर कुछ और करता।
I wish he would give up the butcher's trade and do something else.
(kaash vah qasaaii kaa kaam chhodkar kuchh aur kartaa।)
क़साई की दुकान पर हमेशा मक्खियाँ भिनभिनाती रहती हैं।
Flies are always buzzing around at the butcher's shop.
(qasaaii kii dukaan par hameshaa makkhiyaan bhinbhinaatii rahtii hain।)
Sense
2
:
a cruel, merciless person (figurative)
noun, masculine Used predicatively or as an insult, e.g. calling a harsh doctor, ruthless boss, or violent person 'क़साई' (qasaaii) -- the English idiom 'butcher' works almost identically here.
Synonyms: जल्लाद (jallaad, executioner, similar figurative force), हत्यारा (hatyaaraa, murderer)
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: Just as in English a bad surgeon might be called 'a butcher,' Hindi speakers reach for क़साई (qasaaii) to condemn someone's brutality or incompetence with life-and-death stakes -- you'll hear it hurled at doctors, dictators, or anyone seen as inflicting suffering without conscience.
Common Mistakes: 1) This figurative sense is used only for humans acting with cruelty, not for describing violent events or objects -- you would not call a weapon or a war क़साई (qasaaii), you'd call the *person* responsible one.
Sample Sentences:
वो डॉक्टर नहीं, क़साई है।
He's not a doctor, he's a butcher.
(vo doktar nahiin, qasaaii hai।)
उस सर्जन के हाथों मरीज़ की जान चली गई, लोग उसे क़साई कहने लगे।
The patient died at that surgeon's hands, and people started calling him a butcher.
(us sarjan ke haathon mariiz kii jaan chalii gaii, log use qasaaii kahne lage।)
इतिहास उस तानाशाह को क़साई के नाम से याद करता है।
History remembers that dictator by the name of butcher.
(itihaas us taanaashaah ko qasaaii ke naam se yaad kartaa hai।)
अगर तुमने बिना बेहोश किए ऑपरेशन कर दिया तो लोग तुम्हें क़साई कहेंगे।
If you do the operation without anesthesia, people will call you a butcher.
(agar tumne binaa behosh kie opreshan kar diyaa to log tumhen qasaaii kahenge।)
काश वो हाकिम इतना क़साई न होता।
I wish that ruler weren't such a butcher.
(kaash vo haakim itnaa qasaaii n hotaa।)
उस क़साई डॉक्टर पर मुक़दमा चलाया जाना चाहिए।
That butcher of a doctor should be prosecuted.
(us qasaaii doktar par muqadmaa chalaayaa jaanaa chaahie।)
तू तो इंसान नहीं, क़साई निकला!
You turned out to be no human at all, you butcher!
(too to insaan nahiin, qasaaii niklaa!)
जनरल को उसकी बेरहमी की वजह से क़साई कहा जाता था।
The general used to be called a butcher because of his ruthlessness.
(janral ko uskii berahmii kii vajah se qasaaii kahaa jaataa thaa।)
इस तरह मरीज़ों की जान से खेलना बंद कर, क़साई मत बन।
Stop playing with patients' lives like this, don't become a butcher.
(is tarah mariizon kii jaan se khelnaa band kar, qasaaii mat ban।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
क़साई
(qasaaii)
(sg.m.oblique):
क़साई
(qasaaii)
(pl.m.direct):
क़साई
(qasaaii)
(pl.m.oblique):
क़साईों
([[क़साईों]])