English words of TAMIL AND MALAYALAM ORIGIN
Arun
Malayalam origins. Next I will post English words of Hindi and Urdu
origins. The list is quite long and very interesting. If anyone knows
of more words that are not included here please feel free to
contribute. Similarly if one feels that some words are wrongly
included please let us know.
It follows this pattern
1)Word
2)Meaning
3)Origin
I
areca
a tree of the betel-nut genus of palms, Areca, native to SE Asia and
the Indian subcontinent.
Portuguese, from Malayalam adekka
II
betel
the leaf of the betel-pepper (Piper betle) which is chewed in the East
along with the areca-nut and lime.
Through Portuguese from Tamil/Malayalam vettila
III
choltry or choultry
a caravanserai; a shed used as a place of assembly.
Malayalam
IV
coir
the strong fibre of coconut husk.
Tamil or Malayalam
V
copra
the dried kernel of the coconut, yielding coconut oil.
Portuguese, from Malayalam
VI
ginger
the rootstock of Zingiber officinale, or another species of the genus
(family Zingiberaceae) with a hot taste, used as a condiment.
Tamil inchiver
VII
jack or jak
a tree of the East Indies of the breadfruit genus (Artocarpus); its
fruit.
Portuguese jaca, from Malayalam chakka
VIII
popadum or pappadom or poppadum or puppodum
a thin circle or strip of dough fried in oil, etc until crisp.
Tamil, Malayalam, poppatam/Appalam
IX
teak
a verbenaceous tree (Tectona grandis) of India, Malaya, etc; its hard
and durable wood; the yellowish brown colour of its wood; any of
several trees or their wood, resembling, or used as a substitute for,
teak.
Malayalam tekka
X
tindal
a petty officer of lascars.
Malayalam tandal
XI
urena
any plant of the tropical genus Urena of the mallow family, yielding a
jute substitute.
Malayalam uren
XII
anicut
a dam.
Tamil anaikattu dam-building
XIII
candy or candie or kandy
a S Indian weight, generally containing 20 maunds, approximately 500
lb Imperial.
Tamil
XIV
cash
a small Eastern coin.
Portuguese caixa, from Sinhalese kasi coin, from Tamil kasu
XV
catamaran
originally a raft of logs lashed together; a boat, especially a
sailing boat with two hulls; an old kind of fire-ship, long
superseded; a bad-tempered woman (rare).
Tamil kattu-maram tied wood
XVI
chay or chaya or shaya
an Indian plant (Oldenlandia) of the madder family whose root chayroot
yields a red dye.
Cf Tamil saya
XVII
cheroot
a cigar cut square at either end.
French cheroute, representing the Tamil name shuruttu a roll
XVIII
conjee or congee
water in which rice has been boiled; rice or millet gruel. to starch
with conjee.
Tamil kañji
XIX
coolie or cooly
an Indian or Chinese labourer who emigrated under contract to a
foreign country; a hired native labourer in India and China
(offensive); in S Africa, an Indian (offensive).
Probably Koli, a tribe of W India; or Tamil kuli hire
XX
corundum
a mineral consisting of alumina, second in hardness only to the
diamond (varieties include sapphire, ruby, emery).
Tamil kurundam
XXI
curry
a dish of meat, eggs or vegetables cooked and seasoned with hot or
aromatic spices, eg turmeric, chillies, cumin, coriander, etc. to make
a curry of by seasoning with mixed spices or adding curry sauce.
Tamil kari sauce
XXII
illipe
the mahwa tree (family Sapotaceae), producing illipe nuts and illipe
oil.
Tamil illuppai
XXIII
mango
a tropical, originally East Indian, tree (Mangifera indica) of the
cashew-nut family; its yellowish-red fleshy fruit;
Portuguese manga, from Malay mangga, from Tamil man-kay mango-fruit
XXIV
mulligatawny
an East Indian curry-soup.
Tamil milagu-tannir pepper-water
XXV
nelumbium or nelumbo
a plant of the Nelumbium genus of waterlilies including the Egyptian
bean of Pythagoras, and the sacred lotus:
Probably Tamil
XXVI
palay
the ivory-tree, a small S Indian tree (Wrightia) of the dogbane
family, with hard white wood.
Tamil
XXVII
pariah
a member of a caste in southern India lower than the four Brahminical
castes; a person of low or no caste; a social outcast (figurative); an
ownerless half-wild dog of Eastern towns (in full pariah dog), a
pye-dog.
Tamil paraiyar
XXVIII
patchouli or patchouly
a labiate shrub (Pogostemon patchouly) of SE Asia; a perfume derived
from its dried branches.
Tamil pacculi
XXIX
shola
a thicket or jungle in S India.
Tamil çolai
XXX
vetiver
cuscus grass and root.
French vétiver, from Tamil veltiveru