Dravidianadj.n.
/drəˈvɪdɪən/, U.S. /drəˈvɪdiən/ A. adj.
Of or pertaining to a non-Aryan people found in southern India and Sri Lanka, or their languages.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Elamo-Dravidian > [adjective] > Dravidian
Dravidian1856
Dravidic1888
1856 R. Caldwell Compar. Gram. Dravidian Lang. 527 This shepherd people..gradually merged in the mass of the Drâvidian race.
1871 E. Balfour Cycl. India (ed. 2) II. I-39/2 That geographical distribution of the Kol and Dravidian languages.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 419/2 The languages spoken [in the Madras Presidency]—all of the Dravidian family—are Telugu in the north-east, Tamil in the south, Malayalam in the west, and Canarese in the central plateau.
1959 Times 10 July 7/7 The buildings in the ashrams at Tiruppatur and Tenkasi are so strikingly Dravidian in effect that they could almost be mistaken for Hindu temples.
1961 T. Burrow & M. B. Emeneau (title) A Dravidian etymological dictionary.
B. n.
1. A member of this people or linguistic group.
ΚΠ
1856 R. Caldwell Compar. Gram. Dravidian Lang. 527 The builders of the cairns had settled in India earlier than the Drâvidians.
1871 E. Balfour Cycl. India (ed. 2) II. I-42/1 The uncivilized Dravidian speaking tribes are genuine Dravidians who have in a great measure escaped the culture which the more exposed tribes have received.
1884 D. Aubrey Lett. from Bombay 149 Every scheme appears to have been tried to draw the Hindoo, the Iranian, the Jain, the Dravidian to Christ.
1919 H. G. Wells Outl. Hist. 79/1 The Himalayas etc. divided off the Dravidians from the Mongolians.
1924 A. Huxley Little Mexican 58 Two expatriated Hindus and a couple of swarthy meridional Frenchmen, who might pass at a pinch as the Aryan compatriots of these dark Dravidians.
1928 C. Dawson Age of Gods iv. 82 The Dravidian was pictured as a mere jungle-dwelling savage.
2. Any of the group of languages spoken by this people.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Elamo-Dravidian > [noun] > Dravidian
Dravidian1856
1856 R. Caldwell Compar. Gram. Dravidian Lang. 48 The Drâvidian vocabularies have borrowed largely from the Sanscrit... The Sanscrit, in some instances, has not disdained to borrow from the Drâvidian.
1862 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 7 297 We should have expected sound philological method, if anywhere, in the comparison of Dravidian and Sanskrit, considering the accessibility of the material.
1871 [see sense B. 1]. 1920 H. G. Wells Outl. Hist. 78/1 Dravidian in South India.
Compounds
Dravidian-speaking adj.
ΚΠ
1871 [see sense B. 1].
1928 C. Dawson Age of Gods iv. 83 The modern Dravidian-speaking Brahui.
1934 Discovery Feb. 44/1 The important distinction is that between the Aryan and Dravidian-speaking peoples, which broadly set off northern India against the south.
Derivatives
Dravidianism n.
ΚΠ
1856 R. Caldwell Gram. Dravidian Lang. 503 The Coorgs, whose Drâvidianism cannot be questioned.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1856