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List of English words of Tamil origin - Wikipedia Jump to content

List of English words of Tamil origin

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This is a list of English words that are directly or ultimately of Tamil origin. The list is by no means exhaustive. Relatively few instances can be considered direct borrowings from Tamil, as most of the borrowed forms have entered English through European languages, such as Portuguese or Dutch (the Portuguese and Dutch were among the first Europeans to have traded with South India), Arabic, Persian or Hindi-Urdu.

English words borrowed directly from Tamil

catamaran
from Tamil கட்டுமரம் kattumaram ("kattu"=tie up, "maram"=tree/wood) (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
corundum
from a Tamil word for 'ruby', குருந்தம் kuruntham or குருவிந்தம் kuruvintham (Source: OED)
mulligatawny
from Tamil மிளகுத்தண்ணீர் milagu-tanneer from milagu black pepper and tanneer, water (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
pariah
from Tamil பறையர் paṟaiyar, plural of பறையன் paṟaiyaṉ "drummer". The meaning of "drummer" dates to 1613 (via Portuguese ?), but the current extended meaning of "outcast" for pariah is first attested in 1819. (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
patchouli
from Tamil patchai பச்சை (green), and ellai இலை (leaf).[1]
pandal
from Tamil பந்தல் pandhal (Source: OED)
tutenag
from Tamil துத்தநாகம் thuthanaagam meaning "raw zinc" (Source: OED)
vetiver
from Tamil வெட்டிவேர் vettiver; a tropical Indian grass; Botanical name: Vetiveria zizanioides; its aromatic roots are used for weaving screens and baskets and the oil in perfumery (source: AHD)

English words that ultimately have a Tamil origin

candy
late 13c., "crystalized sugar," from O.Fr. çucre candi "sugar candy," ultimately from Arabic qandi, from Pers. qand "cane sugar," probably from Skt. khanda "piece (of sugar)," perhaps from Dravidian (cf. Tamil kantu "candy," kattu "to harden, condense"). As a verb, attested from 1530s; hence, candied (c.1600)[2].
cheroot
via French cheroute, from Tamil சுருட்டு suruṭṭu, roll or rolled (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
Cochin-china
old name of a region and French colony in southern Vietnam, from Fr. Cochin-China, from Portuguese corruption of Ko-chen, of uncertain meaning; the China added to distinguish it from the town and port of Cochin in southwest India, the name of which is Tamil, perhaps from கொஞ்சம் koncham "little," in reference to the river there[3].
cot
"small bed", 1630s via Hindi khat "couch, hammock," from Skt. khatva (Dravidian source: Tamil கட்டில் kattil "bedstead")[4].
cowrie
"small shell", via Hindi and Urdu kauri, from Mahrati kavadi, from Skt. kaparda (Source : Tamil கொடு kotu "shell")[5].
curry
via Hindi-Urdu from Tamil கறி kaṟi "sauce" (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
pagoda
1580s, from Port. pagode (early 16c.), from a corruption of Pers. butkada, from but "idol" + kada "dwelling." Or perhaps from or influenced by Tamil pagavadi "house belonging to a deity," from Skt. bhagavati "goddess," fem. of bhagavat "blessed, adorable," from *bhagah "good fortune," from PIE base *bhag- "to share out, apportion"[6].
peacock
poucock, from M.E. po "peacock" + coc (see cock (n.)). Po is from O.E. pawa "peafowl," from L. pavo (gen. pavonis), which, with Gk. taos said to be ultimately from Tamil tokei[7](but perhaps is imitative; Latin represented the peacock's sound as paupulo). The Latin word also is the source of O.H.G. pfawo, Ger. Pfau, Du. pauw, O.C.S. pavu. Used as the type of a vainglorious person from late 14c. Its flesh superstitiously believed to be incorruptible (even St. Augustine credits this). "When he sees his feet, he screams wildly, thinking that they are not in keeping with the rest of his body."
poppadom
via Hindi-Urdu or Punjabi, from Malayalam or Tamil பப்படம் pappaṭam, ultimately Sanskrit पर्पट parpaṭa "a kind of thin cake made of rice or pease-meal and baked in grease" or "a thin crisp cake" (Source: OED)
portia tree
ultimately from Tamil பூவரசு puvarasu (Source: OED)
rice
The English word rice is not borrowed from the Greek word "oruza" ((μαγειρ.) ὄρύζα), as previously thought (and found in older handbooks), nor is it a direct borrowing from Tamil அரிசி arici. The relation between Engl. rice and Tamil அரிசி arici is in fact more complicated, as demonstrated in more recent researches. Although Engl. rice is indeed ultimately from (Old) Tamil, the "rice" word has entered English, through several intermediary languages, notably via Church Latin, (Old) French, (Old) Spanish, (Old) Italian and Arabic.[8]

Words of Tamil and also Malayalam origin

Malayalam is a close sister language of modern Tamil, both of which go back to Old Tamil, the oldest attested member of the Dravidian language family. The following English words of Tamil origin were borrowed from Malayalam and/or Tamil.

betel
from Malayalam വെറ്റില vettila; Tamil வெற்றிலை vettrilai: வெட்ட்ரு "vettru"=plant name + இலை "ilai"=leaf, (Source: OED)
coir
probably from Malayalam കയര്‍ kayar, Tamil 'கயிறு' "kayiru" for rope or thread or to be twisted. (Source: The American Heritage Dictionary)
copra
from the Malayalam word കൊപ്പറ koppara, coconut kernel or Tamil கொப்பரை kopparai / கொப்பறா koppara or Telugu word kobbera(Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
Malayalam
from Malayalam മലയാളം Malayalam, from Tamil மலை malai, mountain, அல‌ ala, people, and the appendix ‍ அம் -am (Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayalam)

or 'malai' - mountain, 'aalum' - reigning, 'mozhi' - language.

mango
via French mangue, from Italian manga (1511), probably via Portuguese manga, from Malay mangga, from (obsolete) Tamil maangay (?) or, rather from Malayalam manga. The current Tamil form மாங்காய் maangay could be a borrowing from Malayalam. Final -o of Engl. mango is unexplained. (Sources: OED, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=mango&searchmode=none)
teak
via Portuguese teca, Malay tekka, from Malayalam തേക്ക് thekku, from Tamil தேக்கு thekku

Words currently debated

Major English dictionaries like Oxford English Dictionary, American Heritage Dictionary, and Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, do not conclusively attribute Tamil origin to these words.

anaconda
possibly from Tamil ஆனை கொன்றன் aanai kondran, elephant killer.[9] OED gives derivation from Tamil anai-kondra (anaik-konda), meaning "which killed an elephant.”[10] AHD, MWD, New Oxford American Dictionary give origin from Sinhalese හෙන්කන්ඩය henakaňdayā, "whipsnake".
cash
Of disputed origin. The primary meaning of the word cash, "paper money", or "money" in general, may be from French caisse, Provençal caissa, Italian cassa "money box" from Vulgar Latin capsa "chest, box". A secondary meaning of cash, referring to any of the various coins used in southern India and China, could be from Malayalam or Tamil காசு kācu (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
coolie
Of disputed origin. OED states Tamil is proposed by some as the language of origin, from கூலி cooli a Tamil word for "labour". Alternatively, it could refer to a tribe from Gujarat, whose members were frequently employed as manual laborers.
ginger
The English word ginger is derived from the Middle English gingivere, which in turn comes from Old English gingifer and from Old French gingivre, both from Medieval Latin gingiber. The Latin word is derived from Greek ζιγγίβερις zingiberis, of Middle Indic origin (akin to Pali सिन्गिभेरम् singiveram), from Dravidian roots, akin to Tamil இஞ்சி வேர்

iñcivēr -- இஞ்சி iñci = ginger (of southeast Asian origin) + Tamil வேர் vēr = root.

godown
via Malay, from a Dravidian origin, cf. Kannada gadangu, Tamil கிட்டங்கி (கிடங்கு) Kittangi (kidangu/kodangu) "store room" (Source: OED)
Moringa
exact origin unknown, cf. Tamil முருங்கை murungai , Tamil word for drumstick (Source: OED, AHD)

See also

Notes

The etymologies of on this page are from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the American Heritage Dictionary, (AHD), and the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (M-W). It is noted when the dictionaries' etymologies do not agree.

References

  1. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary
  2. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=candy&allowed_in_frame=0
  3. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Cochin-china&allowed_in_frame=0
  4. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cot&allowed_in_frame=0
  5. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cowrie&allowed_in_frame=0
  6. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pagoda&allowed_in_frame=0
  7. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=peacock&allowed_in_frame=0
  8. ^ The term for "rice" (and other related terms, such as pilaf, pilau, etc.) is actually a very ancient Wanderwort that came with the spread of rice cultivation across Asia since the 3rd millennium BCE. The Tamil word goes back to the ancestral Proto-Dravidian form *(v)ari, *variki, which in turn may have been borrowed from Munda *Ə-rig at around 1500 BCE. The Northern Dravidian continuations of Proto-Dravidian *(v)ari, *variki were subsequently transmitted to the Middle East, hence Middle Persian brinj, New Persian berenj, Pashto wriža "(uncooked) rice". The Greek form óruza must have been borrowed from an Iranian source in order to account for the labial element o-. On the other hand, the more recent European forms, Engl. rice, German Reis, French riz, Italian riso, Spanish arroz, etc. have taken a different route, viz. via Arabic al-ruz (al- is the definite article in Arabic), which is closer to the Tamil form. The fact that Tamil arici (or sim.) has entered Arabic, is further sign of the extensive trade between Arab merchants and their Southern Indian counterparts, probably by sea. See further Witzel "Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan", Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, vol 5, no. 1, 1999, p. 26 ff.
  9. ^ National Geographic - "The name "anaconda" comes from the Tamil word anaikolra, which means "elephant killer." It is uncertain how a word from the island of Sri Lanka, near India, came to be applied to a snake that lives in the Amazon basin of South America, though it may be because of the anaconda's similarity to Asian pythons."
  10. ^ Oxford. 1991. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. Second Edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-861258-3.

External links

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