| 释义 |
Tamil|ˈtæmɪl|
Also 8 Tamoul, 8–9 Tamul.
[ad. Tamiṛ, Tamiḷ, native name (known in 8th c.) of the people and language; in Pālī and Prākrit Damiḷa, Daviḷa, Daviḍa, Sinhalese Demaḷa, Skr. Dramiḷa, Dramiḍa, Draviḍa (whence Dr. Caldwell's term Dravidian for the Tamulic or Tamil family of languages). So Pg., Du., Ger. Tamul, F. Tamoul.]
a. One of a non-Aryan race of people belonging to the Dravidian stock, inhabiting the south-east of India and part of Sri Lanka.
b. The language spoken by this people, the leading member of the Dravidian family. Also attrib. or as adj.
[1579(title) Doctrina Christam..feita em Portugal..Tresladada em lingua Malavar ou Tamul. [Cochin]. ]1734(title) A Grammar of the Damul or Tamul Language. [Tranquebar.] 1778(title) A Grammar for learning the Principles of the Malabar Language, properly called Tamul or the Tamulian Language. (Wepery.) 1788Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 494/1 s.v. Alphabet, From this Shanscrit are derived the sacred characters of Thibet, the Cashmirian, Bengalese, Malabaric, and Tamoul. 1807F. Buchanan Jrnl. fr. Madras II. 441 In the Tamul language it is called Shuri cull, or itch-stone. 1811T. S. Moodelliar (title) A Tamil Expositor. [Madras.] 1842W. C. Taylor Anc. Hist. xviii. (ed. 3) 575 By the persecution of the Buddhists..a great portion of the literature of India has been lost, and in particular,..all the ancient literature of the people that speak the Tamul language. 1864M. C. Swamy in Reader 12 Mar. 336/2 The Tamils [of Ceylon belong]..to the Dravidian race... Their religion is Sivaism, and their language the Tamil. 1869Chambers's Encycl. IX. 285/1 The earliest history of the Tamil' country is still involved in obscurity. 1902Daily Chron. 30 Aug. 8/1 To expel from the British Empire the Tamil-speaking tribes who presume to influence its policy. 1911Encycl. Brit. XVII. 478/2 There has been a great development in agricultural enterprise,..the estates being mainly in the hands of Europeans, and the labour mostly Tamil. 1971Ceylon Daily Mirror 4 Oct. 2/2 There should be healthy rivalry and peaceful co-existence of political parties in Tamil areas.
Hence Taˈmilian (Taˈmulian) a., Tamulic; n. a member of the Tamil people; Taˈmulic a., pertaining to the Tamils or their language, Tamil.
1764Ann. Reg. 114 Dr. Francke, in Germany had sent them a number of Tamulian types..the government having erected a printing-office in the city of Madrass. 1788Asiatick Researches I. 146 The Tamulians (or Malabars) having no h in their alphabet. Ibid., In their language, which is the Tamulic..the place is called Mâvalipuram. 1800Misc. Tracts in Asiatic Ann. Reg. 81/1 The Tamulic termination en..creates a striking resemblance between Pooden and the Wooden of the Goths. 1854[see Munda n. and a.]. 1856[see Malayali]. 1863Lepsius Standard Alph. 226 The four letters..which the Tamulians have added to the Sanscrit alphabet. 1872Morris Eng. Accidence i. 12 The Dravidian or Tamulic [groups], including Tamul, Telegu, Malabar, Canaries. a1881[see bandyman]. 1959V. Cronin Pearl to India vi. 89 Among the Tamilians Védam means both the three collections of hymns known as the Vedas, and also religion in general. 1968P. Lal Indian Recipes 57 Pongal..is the Tamilian New Year. 1971Illustr. Weekly India 25 Apr. 4/2 The Tamilian is well known for his remarkable adaptability to his surroundings.
▸ Tamil Tiger n.‹Tamil n. + tiger n. (not directly after any Tamil term, but compare the organization's emblem of a tiger, attributed originally to the Cholas, a Dravidian people of southern India who occupied and ruled parts of Sri Lanka c 993–1070) a member of the paramilitary Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; (in pl.) this organization; cf. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam n. at liberation n. Additions.
1978Times 20 May 5/7 The National State Assembly of Sri Lanca [sic] today passed..a Bill proscribing the *Tamil Tiger Liberation Movement and similar organizations. 1983Ann. Reg. 1982 277 As well as clashes with the police, there was violence between two groups of ‘Tamil Tigers’ and the house of a Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) politician was burned down in April. 1995H. Wriggins in I. W. Zartmann Elusive Peace ii. 54 Sporadic efforts by the Tamil Tigers to disrupt continued. 2002Toronto Sun (Nexis) 11 Mar. 15 There was a Tamil on the panel who talked about the difficulty his parents had trying to find a school for him to attend because people thought he was a Tamil Tiger. |