Definition of Urdu language

Urdu (, , trans. Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to Indo-European family of languages. It developed under Persian and to a lesser degree Arabic and Turkic influence on  apabhramshas during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (1526–1858 AD).

Urdu is a standardised register of Hindustani termed khaṛībolī, that emerged as a standard dialect. The grammatical description in this article concerns this standard . In general, the term "" can encompass dialects of Hindustani other than the standardised versions.