bakshish, bakhshish (bakshesh)

[Also backshish, backsheesh, bukshish, etc., We promised him backsheesh for a sight of the sacred book. B. Taylor , Lands of the Saracen, p. 94. " Bakhshish ," says a modern writer, "is a fee or present which the Arabs (he here means the Egyptians, who got the word from the Persians through the Turks) claim on all occasions for services you render them, as well as for services they have rendered you. This bakhshish , in fact, is a sort of alms or tribute, which the poor Arab believes himself entitled to claim from every respectable-looking person." R. F. Burton, El-Medinah, p. 23. of