List of English words of Tamil origin
This is a list of
English words that are ultimately of
Tamil origin.
Food
;
Curry : from கறி
kaṟi, sauce (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
;
Mulligatawny : from
miḷaku-taṇṇīr from
miḷaku black pepper
taṇṇīr, water (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
;
Moringa : Moringa is the only genus in the family Moringaceae. The
taxon name moringa comes from the Tamil word murungai
Economics
;
Cash : The primary meaning of the word
cash, paper money, or money in general, comes from
Latin capsa, chest. A secondary meaning of cash, referring to any of various coins used in southern India and China, comes ultimately from Tamil காசு
kācu (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
Equipment
;
Catamaran : from கட்டுமரம்
kaṭṭumaram (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
Social
;
Pariah : from பறையர்
paṟaiyar , plural of பறையன்
paṟaiyaṉ (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
Others
;
Cheroot : from French
cheroute, from Tamil சுருட்டு
curuṭṭu, roll or rolled (Source: OED, AHD, MWD)
;
Corundum : from a Tamil word for 'ruby', குருந்தம்
kuruntam or குருவிந்தம்
kuruvintam (Source: OED)
;
Anaconda : from a Tamil word for 'Anai Kondan', or Elephant killer
[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."]The following words Old Tamil origin have been borrowed by English from
Malayalam which, like modern Tamil, is a descendant of Old Tamil.
;
Copra : from the Malayalam word
koppara "Coconut's kernel" (Source: OED, AHD, MWD), (Tamil கொப்பரை
kopparai or கொப்பறா
koppaṟā)
;
Mango : from
Portuguese manga, from Malay
manga, from Tamil மாங்காய்
māṅkāy (Source: AHD). OED attributes it to "a Dravidian word such as
Kodagu maŋge or Malayalam
māṅṅa or Tamil
māṅkāy". M-W says "probably from Malayalam
mAnna" Please refer to the link from The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/10/16/stories/13160178.htm) where the article cites an old poem where the word 'Maangaai' is used.
;
Teak : from
Portuguese teca, from Malayalam
t"kka (Source: OED, AHD, MWD), (Tamil தேக்கு
t"kku)
No English dictionaries conclusively attribute Tamil origin to the following words, although Tamil origin has been posited by some people:
;
Rice : The English word
rice is borrowed from the Greek word "oruza" ((μαγειρ.) ὄρύζα) which is similar to the Tamil word அரிசி
arici. This strongly indicates trade between ancient Greeks and ancient Indians in region of Southern India. The OED's etymological analysis, for example, is now well over a century old and the field has advanced a good bit since then. In relation to the etymology of rice, linguists in the 1920s categorically ruled out the possibility of a Tamil origin arguing, inter alia, that there was no direct contact between the South of India and the Greek-speaking world in the 4th century BC (see e.g. Jules Bloch's "Le nom du riz", printed in Etudes Asiatique, L'ecole Francaise d'extreme orient, 1925). Of late, it is well established that there were in fact significant trade links between India and Greece at that time, and several newer scholars take it for granted that the word entered Greek from Tamil (e.g. Thorley's 1969 piece "The development of trade between the Roman Empire and the East under Augustus", printed in Greece & Rome, 16:2 at pp. 222).
;
Ginger : middle English gingivere, from old English gingifer and from old French gingivre, both from medieval Latin gingiber, from Latin zingiberi, from Greek zingiberis, of middle Indic origin (akin to Pali singiveram), from dravidian : akin to Tamil இஞ்சி
iñci, ginger (of southeast Asian origin) + Tamil வேர்
v"r, root.
;
Orange : Naranj (French)< Naranja (Spanish < Naranjah (Arabic) < Naranga (Sanskrit) < Narangai (Tamil) from naran (fragrance) + gai (fruit).
;
Candy : Originally there was the phrase
sugar-candy, from French
sucre-candi, Italian
zucchero candi, from Arabic
sukkar qandî, from Persian
qand, from Sanskrit ;;khaNDu
, from Tamil கண்டு kaṇṭu
, meaning a ball of candied sugar.
; Coolie : Often attributed to tamil கூலி kūli
meaning wage or hire, but also possibly from Hindi quli, from the name of an aboriginal Gujarati tribe kuli
.
; Punani : Attributed to Tamil Pundai'' for
cunt via Caribean patois through Tamil
indentured servants in
Trinidad and Tobago.
The etymologies 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.
*
Oxford English Dictionary*
American Heritage Dictionary*
Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary*
Words of Tamil origin in English.
See also: Indian English,
Lists of English words of international origin
