pettahn.
/ˈpɛtə/, U.S. /ˈpɛdə/ 1. In Sri Lanka and southern India: a town or village lying outside or around a fort, and itself sometimes partly fortified. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > village > [noun] > village in countries other than England
casal1511
clachana1530
rancheria1594
aldeia1609
stanitza1662
kraal1731
pettah1761
township1789
pueblo1808
rancho1819
kainga1820
aoul1828
bustee1834
obe1835
tref1841
kampong1844
mir1856
manyatta1905
lapa1909
shtetl1963
1761 R. O. Cambridge Acct. War in India 209 The Marquis de Conflans was encamped in the Pettah, or village.
1763 R. Orme Hist. Mil. Trans. Brit. Nation I. 151 The pagoda served as a citadel to a large pettah.
1803 R. Percival Acct. Island of Ceylon v. 111 The pettah of Colombo deserves particular notice, from its extent and superior structure.
1854 J. H. Stocqueler Hand-bk. Brit. India (ed. 3) 383 The harbour is protected by a fort..encircling the town, and separated from the pettah, a part of Galle inhabited by natives and government servants, by an esplanade.
1876 J. Grant Hist. India I. lxxi. 369/1 The pettah was taken on the 24th.
1910 J. W. Fortescue Hist. Brit. Army V. xiii. i. 16 This strong-hold consisted, as usual, of a pettah, or fortified native town, and a fort proper.
1985 Geografiska Annaler Ser. B 67 15/1 The city [sc. Bangalore] dates from its traditional founding in 1537, when a pettah was established, protected by a mud-walled fort located just to the south.
2. the Pettah: the traditional market area of Colombo.
ΚΠ
1803 R. Percival Acct. Island of Ceylon v. 111 The pettah of Colombo deserves particular notice, from its extent and superior structure.
1821 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 111 95 The latter frequenting houses, and abounding by night in the streets of the Pettah.
1892 C. G. Cumming Two Happy Years in Ceylon (1901) i. 26 Our way lay through the Pettah, or native town, thronged by an ever-fascinating kaleidoscope of infinitely varied human beings.
1962 Housewife (Ceylon) Feb. 29 She will..not go to the Pettah more than twice a month.
1998 Britannica Online (Version 98.2) The Pettah has become a district of small shops, markets, and sidewalk stalls, with all the characteristic features of an Oriental bazaar.
Compounds
pettah wall n.
ΚΠ
1791 Times 29 Aug. 2/4 The reconnoiterers report that the hedge in front of the Pettah wall is thick and high.
1803 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1834) I. 300 The pettah wall was very lofty and defended by towers.
1931 P. Guedalla Duke (1946) ii. v. 109 They came here in the morning, looked at the pettah wall.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1761