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a Hindu title of address equivalent to Sir, Mr., or Esquire.
a Hindu gentleman.
a native Indian clerk who can write English.
Usually Disparaging. any native Indian having only a limited knowledge of English.
Historical Examples

But we had hardly walked a hundred steps after this remark when we saw the babu running after us and signaling us to stop.
From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan Helena Pretrovna Blavatsky

babu Nilratan, the husband of Labanya, was a pleader at Buxar.
The Hungry Stones And Other Stories Rabindranath Tagore

The babu groans heavily, girds up his huge loins, and is off again.
Kim Rudyard Kipling

Perhaps the babu is the thing too much in India; they could do without him.
Unaddressed Letters Anonymous

Said the babu when he had talked for an hour and a half, ‘I hope some day to enjoy your offeecial acquaintance.
Kim Rudyard Kipling

But enough of the babu; I cannot think how he got into my letter.
Unaddressed Letters Anonymous

If the babu devotes himself to Kunda, he will do what she bids him; and she shall do what I bid her.
The Poison Tree Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

I was not too much shocked when the unnerved babu requested whisky!
Autobiography of a YOGI Paramhansa Yogananda

Thanks to the babu’s instructions, we took great care to eat only with our right hands.
From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan Helena Pretrovna Blavatsky

The Egyptian, like the babu, is fond of bursting into print.
New Zealanders at Gallipoli Major Fred Waite

noun
(in India) a title or form of address more or less equivalent to Mr, placed before a person’s full name or after his first name