Sinhala
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Sinhala
- /ˈsɪnhələ/
- /sɪnˈhɑːlə/
Rhymes with -ɑːlə
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Sinhalese සිංහල (siṁhala), itself borrowed from Sanskrit सिंहल (siṃhala, literally “lionlike”), from सिंह (siṃhá, “lion”) + -ल (-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), p. 30). Doublet of Ceylon and Elu.
noun Cinghal
-
Synonym of Sinhalese (“language”).
Similar: Sinhalese
proper noun Cinghal
- The island of Sri Lanka.
- The kingdom in the island of Sri Lanka mentioned in the Mahabharata.
Talk about this word "Sinhala." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sinhala. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. Sinhala. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sinhala "Sinhala." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sinhala.Cite this
@misc{sinhala_2026,
title = {Sinhala},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sinhala},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
