Sinhalesen.adj.
/sɪnhəˈliːz/ 1. As plural, the native inhabitants of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). Also singular, a Sinhalese native of Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese are properly members of an Aryan people deriving from Northern India and now forming the majority of the population of Sri Lanka.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Ceylon > [noun]
Vedda1681
Sinhalese1801
yakkha1837
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Asia > native or inhabitant of Sri Lanka > [noun]
Cingalese1613
Kaffir1704
Ceylonese1726
Sinhalese1801
burgher1807
Kandyan1849
Sri Lankan1973
1801 Asiatick Researches 7 32 The Singhalais assert, from record, the total destruction and regeneration of the universe, many other times.
1802 J. Pinkerton Mod. Geogr. II. 313 The natives of Ceylon, called Singalese,..are not so black as those of Malabar.
1842 J. C. Prichard Nat. Hist. Man 242 The Kandians and the Singhalese resemble each other in manners, language, and religion.
1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 198/2 The ‘tic-polonga’ of the Singalese.
1913 L. Woolf Village in Jungle iii. 45 He was tall for a Sinhalese, broad-shouldered, and big-boned.
1948 Amer. Speech 23 171 The English cling to..Sinhalese or Singhalese for one [sc. an inhabitant] of Ceylon. But in the last case there seems to be a movement toward Ceylonese.
2. The language spoken in Sri Lanka.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Indo-Iranian > Indic > Sinhalese-Maldivian
Sinhalese1801
Singhalee1847
Divehi1887
Kandyan1892
Sinhala1954
Maldivian1972
1801 Asiatick Researches 7 401 The end of the soul is called, in Singalese, Nivani.
1802 J. Pinkerton Mod. Geogr. II. 318 The language is Singalese; and there are some Mahometans.
1861 Chambers's Encycl. II. 738/2 Their [sc. the Veddahs] language..is a dialect of the Singhalese.
3. As adj. Belonging or pertaining to Sri Lanka or to the native inhabitants of that island.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > East Indies > [adjective] > Sri Lanka or the former Ceylon
Ceylonese1727
Sinhalese1797
Sri Lankan1974
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Asia > native or inhabitant of Sri Lanka > [adjective]
Ceylonese1727
Kaffir1763
Sinhalese1797
Sinhala1926
Sri Lankan1974
1797 Encycl. Brit. I. 494/1 From this Shanscrit are derived the sacred characters of Thibet, the Cashmirian,..and Tamoul; the Singalese, Siamese, Maharattan [etc.].
1802 J. Pinkerton Mod. Geogr. II. 311 In the reign of Claudius, embassadors were sent to Rome by a Singalese rajia.
1802 J. Pinkerton Mod. Geogr. II. 314 Religious books in the Tamulic..and Singalese languages.
1890 Contemp. Rev. 57 257 Sixty years ago the Sinhalese priesthood were intensely illiterate.
1890 Contemp. Rev. 57 270 According to the Sinhalese narrative.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.adj.1797