Sinhala

Meanings

Noun

• The indigenous language of the majority people of Sri Lanka.

Proper Noun

• The island of Sri Lanka.
• The kingdom in the island of Sri Lanka mentioned in the Mahabharata.

Related

Similar words

• Sinhalese, Singhalese

Origin

• Sanskrit सिंहल, from सिंह + suffix -la, recorded as the name of the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from about the 10th to 12th century, but presumably older, as it is also the source of the name Ceylon in western geographic tradition.
• The name is sometimes glossed as "abode of lions", referring to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island ( The Asiatic Journal 20 (1836), ). Ceylon.