Orissa

O1R1I1S1S1A1

proper noun

Former name of Odisha: A state in eastern India.

Less commonScrabble 6

Meanings

proper noun
  1. Former name of Odisha: A state in eastern India.

    The firſt had conſtantly reſided with his father at Cuttack, the capital of Oriſſa, and the other, with his grandfather at Morſhadabad.

    1765, John Zephaniah Holwell, Interesting Historical Events, Relative to the Provinces of Bengal, and the Empire of Indostan: With a Seasonable Hint and Perswasive to the …, volume 1, T. Becket and P.A. De Hondt, page 53
    5 more examples

    THAT as the different Provincial Councils, eſtabliſhed in the ſaid Provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Oriſſa, had been ever ſince their Eſtabliſhment accuſtomed to refer Cauſes of great Moment and Importance, particularly [...]

    1787, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Articles of Charge of High Crimes and miſdemeanors, against …, J. Debrett, page 53

    To the Government of Bengal they had repeatedly announced their determination not to aim at any power or possessions, but what was held in virtue of the Mogul's grants, and confined within the boundaries of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa.

    1809, James Maitland Earl Of Lauderdale, An Inquiry Into the Practical Merits of the System for the Government of India, Under the Superintendence of the Board of. Controul, A. Constable, page 21

    "The languages spoken here are various, as there are Hindoos from every country in India: but the two chief languages in use by those who are resident, are the Orissa and the Telinga. The border of the Telinga Country is only a few miles distant from the Tower of Juggernaut."

    1811, Claudius Buchanan, Christian Researches in Asia: With Notices of the Translation of the Scriptures Into the Oriental Languages, 2 edition, Samuel T. Armstrong, page 34

    It is of the fourth and probably least important race of Hindu monarchs of the middle ages, the Gajapatis of Orissa, that I propose to offer an account in this part of my paper; but to render the chapter complete, I shall add a sketch of the history of the province down to the date of the British conquest, A. D. 1803.

    1822, Andrew Stirling, An Account, Geographical, Statistical and Historical of Orissa Proper, or Cuttack, page 94

    The English Government has respected the patrimony of Jagannáth not less scrupulously than it has conserved the general religious endowments of Orissa.

    1872, William Wilson Hunter, Orissa: Or the Vicissitudes of an Indian Province Under Native and British Rule, Elder and Company, page 122

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Sanskritओड्रदेश
  2. orrowed from Odia ଓଡ଼ିଶା
  3. EnglishOrissa

Borrowed from Odia ଓଡ଼ିଶା (oṛiśā), in turn Derived from Sanskrit ओड्रदेश (oḍradeśa, literally “land of the Odras”), a compound of ओड्र (oḍra, “Odra”) + देश (deśa, “land, country”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Orissa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Orissa

MLA

“Orissa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Orissa. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Orissa,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Orissa.

Source: Orissa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.