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Dravidian

[druh-vid-ee-uh n]

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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

Historical Examples of dravidian

Tanjore and Madura are the seats of the Dravidian temples which we visited.
A Tour of the Missions
Augustus Hopkins Strong
In many ways like this, the Aryan and the Dravidian united to form the Hindu.
A Tour of the Missions
Augustus Hopkins Strong
It has been usual to set these down as earlier than Dravidian.
Castes and Tribes of Southern India
Edgar Thurston
They are undoubtedly a mixed Dravidian race, with much Aryan blood.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 7
Various
It proceeded from a hideous worship of monstrous Dravidian divinities.
Needlework As Art
Marian Alford

British Dictionary definitions for dravidian

Dravidian

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper