panchayat
noun
pan·cha·yat
variants or less commonly panchayet or punchayet
(ˌ)pənˈchäyət,
-chīət
plural -s
1
: a village council in India:
a
: a former group of five influential older men acknowledged by the community as its governing body
b
: an elective council of about five members organized in the republic of India as an organ of village self-government
2
: a Parsi council of six dasturs and ten mobeds regulating secular affairs
Word History
Etymology
Hindi pañcāyat, from Sanskrit pañca five