Dravidian
[ druh-vid-ee-uh n ]
/ drəˈvɪd i ən /
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
OTHER WORDS FROM Dravidian
pre-Dra·vid·i·an, adjective pre-Dra·vid·ic, adjectiveExample sentences from the Web for dravidian
British Dictionary definitions for dravidian
Dravidian
/ (drəˈvɪdɪən) /
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