Tamil
Americannoun
-
Tamils,
plural
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Tamil
plural
-
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
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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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
Given the failure of the authorities to investigate previous mass graves, there is scepticism among many Tamil people over what the new investigation might achieve.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Sivaranjani Muthunathan was travelling in Nepal by bus with 56 others from India's southern state of Tamil Nadu.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Records cited by the official show that on 5 June this year, one male and two female lar gibbons were transferred from Manipur to a person in Perundurai in Tamil Nadu's Erode district.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
A video posted by a Tamil film star showing him cuddling an endangered gibbon has triggered an investigation by Indian wildlife officials over how he came into contact with the animal.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
I called him Mamaji, mama being the Tamil word for uncle and ji being a suffix used in India to indicate respect and affection.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
It also left about 23,000 – mostly Tamils – missing.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Also, "what these digs testify is to the existence of a distinctly sophisticated style of civilisation," notes Nirmala Lakshman, author of The Tamils - A Portrait of a Community.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2025
In their time on the island, the Tamils, including 16 children, were housed in military tents in the fenced camp, which was guarded at all times by private security company G4S.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2024
In 2021, dozens of Tamils became the first people ever to claim asylum on the Indian Ocean island, which is the site of a secretive UK-US military base.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2024
He was in a street that ran parallel with the river, a highway where Burmans, Chinese, Hindus, Madrasees, Tamils, Cingaleese and Chittagonians mingled in a colorful, reeking democracy unknown to caste-bound Indian cities.
From Caravans By Night A Romance of India by Harry Hervey
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