baksheesh

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a tip, gratuity, or small bribe given to obtain service or cooperation, especially in parts of Asia and the Middle East

   The porter lingered at the doorway in the hope of receiving baksheesh.

2. 2
   verb

   to give or influence someone with baksheesh

   The traveler baksheeshed an official to speed up the paperwork.

Borrowed through Turkish bahsis from Persian bakhshish, 'gift, gratuity,' from bakhshidan, 'to give or bestow.' English travelers adopted the word in the seventeenth century for a tip or present, and it later acquired a frequent implication of bribery.

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