Link Centre Dictionary

Dravidian

dra·vi·dian

UK/dɹəˈvɪdɪən/ uncommon

noun

1.

a member of one of the aboriginal races of India (pushed south by Caucasians and now mixed with them)

2.

a large family of languages spoken in south and central India and Sri Lanka

Synonyms

Origin

From Sanskrit द्राविड (drāviḍa) + -ian. *tamiḻ > *damiḷ > damiḷa- / damila- and further, with the intrusive, 'hypercorrect' (or perhaps analogical) -r-, into dr(a/ā)viḍa.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.