Meanings
- A family of related ethnicities and languages primarily in Southern India, Northeast Sri Lanka, and parts of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
- Any of the languages of these aboriginal peoples; Dravidic.
plural Dravidians
- A member of any of several aboriginal peoples of India and Sri Lanka thought to have spread in India before Aryan migration.
comparative more Dravidian · superlative most Dravidian
- Of or relating to the Dravidian people or language.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna large family of languages spoken in south and central India and Sri Lanka, as well as overseas in Malaysia and Singapore
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From Sanskrit द्राविड (drāviḍa) + -ian. *tamiḻ > *damiḷ > damiḷa- / damila- and further, with the intrusive, 'hypercorrect' (or perhaps analogical) -r-, into dr(a/ā)viḍa.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan dravídic, dràvida
- dravídicfamily of languages
- dràvidaperson
- dravídicTranslations
Chinese Mandarin 達羅毗荼語系 /达罗毗荼语系, 德拉維達語系 /德拉维达语系
- 達羅毗荼語系 /达罗毗荼语系 (Dáluópítú yǔxì)family of languages
- 德拉維達語系 /德拉维达语系 (Délāwéidá yǔxì)family of languages
Czech drávidské jazyky, Drávid
- drávidské jazykyfamily of languages
- Drávidperson
- drávidskýTranslations
Dutch Dravidisch
- DravidischTranslations
Finnish dravidakielet, dravidakieli
- dravidakieletfamily of languages
- dravidakielisingle language
- dravidaperson
- dravidalainenTranslations
French dravidien
- dravidienfamily of languages
German Drawidisch, Dravidisch
- Drawidischfamily of languages
- Dravidischfamily of languages
Hindi द्रविड़
- द्रविड़ (draviṛ)family of languages
Hungarian dravida
- dravidafamily of languages
Indonesian bahasa Dravida
- bahasa Dravidafamily of languages
Japanese ドラヴィダ語族 達羅毗荼語族
- ドラヴィダ語族 達羅毗荼語族 (Doravida-gozoku)family of languages
Korean 드라비다어족
- 드라비다어족 (deurabida'eojok)family of languages
Latin dravidicus
- dravidicusTranslations
Malay bahasa Dravidia, bahasa Dravidia
- bahasa Dravidiafamily of languages
- bahasa Dravidiasingle language
- orang Dravidiaperson
Polish drawidyjski, drawidyjski
- drawidyjskifamily of languages
- drawidyjskisingle language
- Drawidaperson
- Drawidyjkaperson
Portuguese dravidiano
- dravidianofamily of languages
Punjabi ਦਰਾਵੜ
- ਦਰਾਵੜ (darāvaṛ)Translations
Russian дравиди́йский
- дравиди́йский (dravidíjskij)family of languages
Spanish drávido
- drávidofamily of languages
Tamil திராவிட மொழி
- திராவிட மொழி (tirāviṭa moḻi)family of languages
Cite this entry
Dravidian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dravidian
“Dravidian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dravidian. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Dravidian,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dravidian.
Source: Dravidian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.