Tamil
Americannoun
plural
Tamils,plural
Tamil-
a member of a Dravidian people of southern India and Sri Lanka.
-
the Dravidian language of the Tamils, spoken in India principally in Tamil Nadu state and in Sri Lanka on the northern and eastern coasts.
adjective
noun
-
a member of a mixed Dravidian and Caucasoid people of S India and Sri Lanka
-
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
adjective
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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.
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
The system is expected to move northwards towards neighbouring Tamil Nadu state in India by Sunday.
From Barron's
A massive hunt was launched on Wednesday, with more than 200 police officers deployed across Karnataka state and the neighbouring Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Goa states.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.