Adjacent Words

Bengal definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BENGAL', n. A thin stuff made of silk and hair, for women's apparel, so called from Bengal in the E.Indies.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a region whose eastern part is now Bangladesh and whose western part is included in India

Merriam Webster's

geographical name region E India (subcontinent) including delta of the Ganges & the Brahmaputra; a province of British India 1937-47; divided 1947 between Pakistan & India (republic) — see East Bengal, East Pakistan, West Bengal • Bengalese adjective or noun

Britannica Concise

Former province, NE British India. Generally corresponding to the area inhabited by speakers of the Bengali language, it is now divided between the Indian state of W. Bengal and Bangladesh. Bengal formed part of most of the early empires that controlled N India. In the 8th-12th cent. it was under a Buddhist dynasty, and from 1576 it belonged to the Mughal empire. In the 18th cent. it was dominated by the nawabs of Bengal; they came into conflict with the British, who had established themselves at Calcutta in 1690. By 1764 the British had taken possession, and from then on Bengal was the base for British expansion in India. With the end of British rule in 1947, the area was divided. W. Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa became part of India. E. Bengal went to Pakistan; in 1971 it became Bangladesh.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bengal Ben*gal", n. 1. A province in India, giving its name to various stuffs, animals, etc. 2. A thin stuff, made of silk and hair, originally brought from Bengal. 3. Striped gingham, originally brought from Bengal; Bengal stripes. Bengal light, a firework containing niter, sulphur, and antimony, and producing a sustained and vivid colored light, used in making signals and in pyrotechnics; -- called also blue light. Bengal stripes, a kind of cotton cloth woven with colored stripes. See Bengal, 3. Bengal tiger. (Zo["o]l.). See Tiger.