Tamil

American  

[tam-uhl, tuhm-, tah-muhl] / ˈtæm əl, ˈtʌm-, ˈtɑ məl /

noun

plural

Tamils,

plural

Tamil

1. a member of a Dravidian people of southern India and Sri Lanka.

2. the Dravidian language of the Tamils, spoken in India principally in Tamil Nadu state and in Sri Lanka on the northern and eastern coasts.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Tamils or their language.

Tamil British  

/ ˈtæmɪl /

noun

1. a member of a mixed Dravidian and Caucasoid people of S India and Sri Lanka

2. the language of this people: the state language of Tamil Nadu, also spoken in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, belonging to the Dravidian family of languages

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adjective

1. of or relating to this people or their language

Usage

What does Tamil mean? Tamil is the name for a person of a Dravidian culture group that is located primarily in Southern India and northeastern Sri Lanka.Tamil is also the name of the language spoken by Tamils.Tamils, like all Dravidian peoples, are aboriginal to Southern India and Sri Lanka. That is, Dravidian peoples are the earliest known inhabitants of that geographic area.Today, most of the world’s Tamils live in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and northern part of the country of Sri Lanka, although many Tamils live around the world.

Example Sentences

India's southern state of Tamil Nadu has a long, peculiar political tradition: here, cinema doesn't merely entertain, it also governs.

From BBC

Earlier this season, he became the first Tamil footballer to score in the EFL when he netted against Doncaster Rovers in League One.

From BBC

Tamil Nadu state, a manufacturing powerhouse, accounts for most of India’s exports of iPhones and a large share of clothing and footwear exports, industries that are among the state’s top employers.

From The Wall Street Journal

To keep the study grounded in real-world conditions, the researchers chose a model of a single village in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu - the heart of India's poultry belt.

From BBC

Tamil Nadu frames its payments as a "rights grant" while West Bengal's scheme similarly recognises women's unpaid contributions.

From BBC