Tamil
5.9
A language spoken mainly in southern India and Sri Lanka
- noun
- /ˈtæmɪl/
:
tamil
- I speak like very little of many South Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Encarada and a bit of Hindi.
Examples
-
The Tamil language has a rich literary tradition, with works dating back over two thousand years.
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During my trip to Sri Lanka, I was amazed by how many signs were written in Tamil.
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Many people around the world learn Tamil as their second language.
Synonyms
Tamil language
vsTamil
4.0
A language spoken by Tamil people in southern India and Sri Lanka
includes communities worldwide rather than being limited to those two regions
Compounds
9.3
An armed group in Sri Lanka that fought for a separate Tamil state and used suicide attacks
Tamil Tigers
- NSFW
9.1
An armed group in Sri Lanka that fought for a separate Tamil state using violent attacks
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tamil comes from the people’s own name for their language, tamiḻ, sometimes written tamiz, which means 'Tamil language' or 'our speech'. So Tamil is the name of the language spoken in southern India, Sri Lanka, and by communities around the world.
