Dravidian

[ druh-vid-ee-uh n ]

/ drəˈvɪd i ən /

noun

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.

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

adjective

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

Origin of Dravidian

1855–60; < Sanskrit Draviḍ(a) ethnonym + -ian

Related formspre-Dra·vid·i·an, adjectivepre-Dra·vid·ic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dravidian

But still the whole system, though heated in the furnace of Dravidian emotion, has not been recast in a new mould.
Hinduism And Buddhism, Volume II. (of 3)|Charles Eliot
A strong Dravidian element can, however, also be traced in the population of northern India.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 7|Various
This passage must have been written after a Vishnuite movement had begun in the Dravidian country.
Hinduism And Buddhism, Volume II. (of 3)|Charles Eliot
One of the most characteristic features of the Dravidian verb is the existence of a separate negative conjugation.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 7|Various

It proceeded from a hideous worship of monstrous Dravidian divinities.
Needlework As Art|Marian Alford

British Dictionary definitions for dravidian

Dravidian

/ (drəˈvɪdɪən) /

noun

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

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

adjective

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dravidian

Dravidian

adj.

1856, "pertaining to the race in southern India or the languages spoken by them," from Sanskrit Dravidah, name of a region in southern India, + -ian.