Marathi

1. An Indo-Aryan language that is the predominant language spoken in the state of Maharashtra, India.

   I made a pact with her that she would teach me more Marathi and I could teach her the English alphabet.

   2020, Avni Doshi, Burnt Sugar, Hamish Hamilton, page 110

plural Marathis

1. A person of a Marathi-speaking people from the state of Maharashtra; a person of or from Maharashtra.

   1882, R. V. Modak, History of the Native Churches Associated with the American Marathi Mission..., in Memorial Papers of the American Marathi Mission, 1813-1881, American Marathi Mission, page 11, In March 1831, Moroba, a Marathi, was received to the church.

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   'These people want places reserved for Marathis in railways jobs, so they’re attacking candidates across the city … Bhai, this'll turn ugly before you know it.'

   2023, Santanu Bhattacharya, One Small Voice, Fig Tree, page 278

   Synonyms: Maratha

1. not comparablePertaining to the state of Maharashtra, to the Marathi-speaking people from the state, or to the Marathi language.

   2022, Hrishikesh Sudhakar Ingle, Marathi Cinema, Cultural Space, and Liminality, Oxford University Press, unnumbered page, In formulating the idea of a vernacular performative, the intention has been to situate Marathi filmmaking of the 1950s within a post-studio scenario.

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   For years now, local parties in Mumbai had campaigned for Marathi people to get preferential treatment – land, housing, jobs.

   2023, Santanu Bhattacharya, One Small Voice, Fig Tree, page 264