Malayalin.adj.
/ˌmaləˈjɑːli/, U.S. /ˌmələˈjɑli/ A. n.
A member of a Malayalam-speaking people chiefly inhabiting the state of Kerala in south-west India.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > Indian > [noun] > other peoples of India > person
Jat1622
Maratha1744
Moplah1787
Mleccha1793
Gurkha1811
Swati1815
Naga1835
Manipuri1837
Malayali1856
Ho1860
Mahsud1873
Adivasi1941
1856 R. Caldwell Compar. Gram. Dravidian Lang. 491 The higher castes are styled ‘Hindus’, or else ‘Tamilians’, ‘Malayâlis’, &c., according to their language and nation.
1889 L. J. Frohnmeyer Progressive Gram. Malayalam Lang. p. xii The Malayalees have not a few Folk Songs.
1889 L. J. Frohnmeyer Progressive Gram. Malayalam Lang. xvi. 133 The Malayali..prefers to divide in two or three activities, what Europeans would express by one Verb.
1928 Chambers's Jrnl. 18 244/1 Chetwynd managed to hold the Malayalees together for another three days.
1961 P. Spear India vii. 91 The southern Dravidian people were articulated in four groups..the Tamils,..the Telugus or Andhras,..the Malayalis along the west coast in the modern state of Kerala; and the Kanaras.
1980 Eng. World-wide 1 i. 100 Many English-educated Indians, especially Tamils and Malayalis, were employed in teaching.
1986 India Today 31 July 85/2 The average Malayalee prefers the single-storey..house.
B. adj.
Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Malayalis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > Indian > [adjective] > Dravidian peoples
Tamilian1765
Tamulic1789
Maler1811
Telugu1816
Rajmahali1851
Gond1855
Muriaa1863
Malayali1897
Maria1908
1897 K. K. Nayar Malayali Woman i. 1 The average Malayali woman is scrupulously clean, fair in color and lively in appearance.
1971 Hindustan Times Weekly Rev. (New Delhi) 4 Apr. p. iv/5 We celebrate both Malayali and Bengali festivals.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1856