The word is pronounced [tʃoɾbaˈdʒɯ] in Turkish and literally means "person in charge of çorba (soup)".
In several predominantly Christian areas of the Ottoman Empire, such as the current North Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria, as well as many parts of Eastern Anatolia, the term chorbaji (Macedonian and Serbian: чорбаџија, čorbadžija; Bulgarian: чорбаджия, chorbadzhiya Western Armenian: չորպաճի "ch'orbaji") was also used as a title for (Christian) members of the rural elite, heads of villages and other rural communities and rich peasants.
During Ottoman rule the word τσορμπατζης (pronounced chorbajis) was used with the meaning of "mayor" in the Greek Christian communities in the whole area of Thrace and in Western Asia Minor.
It is also a slang word and family name among Syrians (where it is pronounced as Shorbaji), Albanians, Bulgarians, Lebanese, Turks, Ukrainians and many others.
A variant of the word, Qoʻrboshi or Kurbashi, was also used to indicate the commander of a Basmachi guerrilla detachment in Central Asia, during their struggle against the Red Army between 1916 and 1934.