pettah

P3E1T1T1A1H4

noun

A town, sometimes fortified, outside a fort.

OriginTamil பேட்டை →
Scrabble 11
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Meanings

nounpettah (plural pettahs)

plural pettahs

  1. A town, sometimes fortified, outside a fort.

    We had not hitherto seen the face of the enemy, but now the walls of both the Pettah —native town— and fort were lined with men whose arms glittered in the sun

    1830, James Welsh, Military Reminiscences, 2nd edition, volume 1

Origin

  1. Tamilபேட்டை“extramural suburb”
  2. Englishpettah

Borrowed from Tamil பேட்டை (pēṭṭai, “extramural suburb”).

More words from Tamil

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

pettah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pettah

MLA

“pettah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pettah. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pettah,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pettah.

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