Dravidian

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dravidian \Dra*vid"i*an\, prop. a. [From Skr. Dr[=a]vi[dsdot]a,
     the name of the southern portion of the peninsula of India.]
     (Ethnol.)
     Of or pertaining to the Dravida.
     [1913 Webster]
  


     {Dravidian languages}, a group of languages of Southern
        India, which seem to have been the idioms of the natives,
        before the invasion of tribes speaking Sanskrit. Of these
        languages, the Tamil is the most important; Telegu,
        Malayalam, and Kannada are included. These languages are
        distinct from the Indo-European family of languages.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Dravidian
       n 1: a member of one of the aboriginal races of India (pushed
            south by Caucasians and now mixed with them)
       2: a large family of languages spoken in south and central
          India and Sri Lanka [syn: {Dravidic}, {Dravidian language}]