Phansigarn.
/ˈpɑːnsᵻɡɑː/, /ˈfɑːnsᵻɡɑː/, U.S. /ˈpɑnsəˌɡɑr/, /ˈfɑnsəˌɡɑr/ Now historical.
A member of a society or cult of professional robbers and murderers who strangled their victims; = thug n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > robber > [noun] > who attacks and robs
swadder1567
thug1810
Phansigar1813
nooser1816
1813 J. Forbes Oriental Mem. IV. xxxvii. 13 A tribe called phanseegurs, or stranglers.
1841 C. Mackay Mem. Pop. Delusions I. 371 Murderers, who, under the name of Thugs, or Phansigars, have so long been the scourge of India.
1884 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 199/1 A certain gang of Phansigars is said never to have prospered because on one occasion they murdered a woman.
1984 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 78 661/1 No one knows exactly when the Thugs (often called Phansigars or stranglers) first appeared.
1999 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 30 Mar. 22 The thuggees, also known as the Phansigars,..offered the dead bodies as sacrifices to Kali, the goddess of death and destruction.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1813