idli

I1D2L1I1

noun

A South Asian cake made from a mixture of ground rice and lentils fermented and steamed in a mold.

OriginTamil இட்லி ← Kannada ಇಡ್ಲಿ →
RareScrabble 5
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounidli (plural idlis)

plural idlis

  1. A South Asian cake made from a mixture of ground rice and lentils fermented and steamed in a mold.

    “My aunty will probably send you a million idlis, too, once I tell her you ate all of mine.”

    2020, N. K. Jemisin, The City We Became, Orbit, page 414

Origin

  1. Kannadaಇಡ್ಲಿ
  2. Tamilஇட்லி
  3. Englishidli

From Tamil இட்லி (iṭli), Kannada ಇಡ್ಲಿ (iḍli).

More words from Tamil, Kannada

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic إدلي
  • إدلي (idli)Translations
Chinese Mandarin 蒸米餅 /蒸米饼, 伊德利
  • 蒸米餅 /蒸米饼 (zhēng mǐ bǐng)Translations
  • 伊德利 (yī dé lì)Translations
Hindi इडली
  • इडली (iḍlī)Translations
Japanese イドゥリ
  • イドゥリ (iduri)Translations
Tamil இட்லி
  • இட்லி (iṭli)Translations
Urdu اڈلی
  • اڈلیTranslations

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Dili
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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