Dravidian

[ druh-vid-ee-uhn ]

noun
  1. a family of languages, wholly distinct from Indo-European, spoken mostly in southern India and Sri Lanka and including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and, in Pakistan, Brahui.

  2. a member of the aboriginal population occupying much of southern India and parts of Sri Lanka.

adjective
  1. Also Dra·vid·ic. of or relating to this people or their language.

Origin of Dravidian

1
First recorded in 1855–60; from Sanskrit Draviḍ(a) the proper name of an ethnic group + -ian

Other words from Dravidian

  • pre-Dra·vid·i·an, adjective
  • pre-Dra·vid·ic, adjective

Words Nearby Dravidian

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Dravidian in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Dravidian

Dravidian

/ (drəˈvɪdɪən) /


noun
  1. a family of languages spoken in S and central India and Sri Lanka, including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, and Gondi

  2. a member of one of the aboriginal races of India, pushed south by the Indo-Europeans and now mixed with them

adjective
  1. denoting, belonging to, or relating to this family of languages or these peoples

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