ਨੱਕ

What does nakk mean in Punjabi?

Nakk (ਨੱਕ) means nose in Punjabi: the part of the face above the mouth, used for breathing and for smelling. It is a feminine noun and one of the first body words a learner meets. Beyond the body, nakk also stands for honour and pride in Punjabi idioms, so the word carries more weight than its size suggests.

Nakk in everyday speech

At home and at the doctor, nakk is a plain working word. A blocked nose in cold weather is nakk band, a nose shut tight, and a cold is talked about through the nose first. Smells are also talked about through the nakk: a good khushboo, a fragrance, is noticed by the nose before the eyes find where it came from.

The two openings of the nose are its naasaan, the nostrils, and breathing is often spoken of as breath coming and going through them. Because the nose sits in the middle of the face, it is one of the first features noticed about a person, and everyday descriptions of people quietly rely on it.

Nakk and honour

In Punjabi, the nakk is also the seat of honour, much as face is in the English phrase to lose face. The Kosh entry nakk katna, literally to cut the nose, means to bring public shame and dishonour on someone, and it is one of the strongest expressions of disgrace in the language. The opposite wish is to keep the nakk high: nakk uchi rakhna means to hold your honour up and walk with pride.

A second everyday phrase, nakk vich dam karna, means to pester or torment someone endlessly, as if making it hard for them to breathe in peace. It has its own Kosh entry too. Both phrases show how one small body word does heavy work in Punjabi speech, moving between the body, honour and temper.

How do you say nose in Punjabi?

Nose in Punjabi is nakk (ਨੱਕ). You can say meri nakk for my nose, and nakk band hai for the nose is blocked, the everyday way of describing a cold.

Is nakk the same as naak?

They are close relatives. Naak is the form heard in Hindi and Urdu, while nakk, with its hard doubled k, is the everyday Punjabi word used across Punjab. A Punjabi speaker will understand both, but nakk is the word of home speech.

How is nakk used in a sentence?

You can say: ਮੇਰੀ ਨੱਕ ਬੰਦ ਹੈ, which means my nose is blocked. More examples are given below on this page.