Word(s)

Meaning

Origin

areca

a tree of the betel-nut genus of palms, Areca, native to SE Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Portuguese, from Malayalam adekka

betel

the leaf of the betel-pepper (Piper betle) which is chewed in the East along with the areca-nut and lime.

Through Portuguese from Malayalam vettila

choltry or choultry

a caravanserai; a shed used as a place of assembly.

Malayalam

coir

the strong fibre of coconut husk.

Tamil or Malayalam

copra

the dried kernel of the coconut, yielding coconut oil.

Portuguese, from Malayalam

ginger

the rootstock of Zingiber officinale, or another species of the genus (family Zingiberaceae) with a hot taste, used as a condiment.

Malayalam inchiver

jack or jak

a tree of the East Indies of the breadfruit genus (Artocarpus); its fruit.

Portuguese jaca, from Malayalam chakka

kathakali

a classical dance drama of S India.

Malayalam, drama

popadum or pappadom or poppadum or puppodum

a thin circle or strip of dough fried in oil, etc until crisp.

Tamil, Malayalam, poppatam

teak

a verbenaceous tree (Tectona grandis) of India, Malaya, etc; its hard and durable wood; the yellowish brown colour of its wood; any of several trees or their wood, resembling, or used as a substitute for, teak.

Malayalam tekka

tindal

a petty officer of lascars.

Malayalam tandal

urena

any plant of the tropical genus Urena of the mallow family, yielding a jute substitute.

Malayalam uren

anicut

a dam.

Tamil anaikattu dam-building

candy or candie or kandy

a S Indian weight, generally containing 20 maunds, approximately 500 lb Imperial.

Tamil

cash

a small Eastern coin.

Portuguese caixa, from Sinhalese kasi coin, from Tamil kasu

catamaran

originally a raft of logs lashed together; a boat, especially a sailing boat with two hulls; an old kind of fire-ship, long superseded; a bad-tempered woman (rare).

Tamil kattu-maram tied wood

chay or chaya or shaya

an Indian plant (Oldenlandia) of the madder family whose root chayroot yields a red dye.

Cf Tamil saya

cheroot

a cigar cut square at either end.

French cheroute, representing the Tamil name shuruttu a roll

conjee or congee

water in which rice has been boiled; rice or millet gruel. to starch with conjee.

Tamil kañji

coolie or cooly

an Indian or Chinese labourer who emigrated under contract to a foreign country; a hired native labourer in India and China (offensive); in S Africa, an Indian (offensive).

Probably Koli, a tribe of W India; or Tamil kuli hire

corundum

a mineral consisting of alumina, second in hardness only to the diamond (varieties include sapphire, ruby, emery).

Tamil kurundam

curry

a dish of meat, eggs or vegetables cooked and seasoned with hot or aromatic spices, eg turmeric, chillies, cumin, coriander, etc. to make a curry of by seasoning with mixed spices or adding curry sauce.

Tamil kari sauce

illipe

the mahwa tree (family Sapotaceae), producing illipe nuts and illipe oil.

Tamil illuppai

mango

a tropical, originally East Indian, tree (Mangifera indica) of the cashew-nut family; its yellowish-red fleshy fruit;

Portuguese manga, from Malay mangga, from Tamil man-kay mango-fruit

mulligatawny

an East Indian curry-soup.

Tamil milagu-tannir pepper-water

nelumbium or nelumbo

a plant of the Nelumbium genus of waterlilies including the Egyptian bean of Pythagoras, and the sacred lotus:

Probably Tamil

palay

the ivory-tree, a small S Indian tree (Wrightia) of the dogbane family, with hard white wood.

Tamil

pariah

a member of a caste in southern India lower than the four Brahminical castes; a person of low or no caste; a social outcast (figurative); an ownerless half-wild dog of Eastern towns (in full pariah dog), a pye-dog.

Tamil paraiyar

patchouli or patchouly

a labiate shrub (Pogostemon patchouly) of SE Asia; a perfume derived from its dried branches.

Tamil pacculi

shola

a thicket or jungle in S India.

Tamil çolai

vetiver

cuscus grass and root.

French vétiver, from Tamil veltiveru