Sin·ha·la

(sĭn-hä′lə)

n. pl. Sinhala or Sin·ha·las

1. A Sinhalese.

2. The Sinhalese language.

[Sinhala Sin̥hala, from Sanskrit siṁhalaḥ, Sri Lanka, from siṁhaḥ, lion (perhaps from the former presence of lions there).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sin•ha•lese

(ˌsɪn həˈliz, -ˈlis)

n., pl. -lese.
adj. n.

1. a member of an Indo-Aryan-speaking, chiefly Buddhist people comprising the majority of the inhabitants of Sri Lanka.

2. the Indo-Aryan language of the Sinhalese.

adj.

3. of or pertaining to Sinhalese.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	Sinhala - the Indic language spoken by the people of Sri Lanka Singhalese, Sinhalese Sanskrit, Sanskritic language - (Hinduism) an ancient language of India (the language of the Vedas and of Hinduism); an official language of India although it is now used only for religious purposes
Adj.	1.	Sinhala - of or relating to the Sinhalese languages; "the Sinhalese versions of the Ramayana" Singhalese, Sinhalese

Translations

cingalais

singalesisk

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

Another Sinhala and Tamil New Year dawneed at 8.13 a.m.

The Colombo Post wishes you happy Sinhala, Tamil New Year

The Sri Lankan teams will perform traditional dances, songs on Qatar in Sinhala and English, dance in Kandyan style as well as songs in English, Sinhala and Tamil.

West End Park to host celebrations for families, workers

ISLAMABAD, February 06, 2010 (Balochistan Times): Radio Pakistan has launched Nepali, Sinhala and Tamil language programmes from its external services.

Radio Pakistan launches programmes in three new languages

Sri Lankans from all walks of life packed into the hotelEoe1/4aos Sur Ballroom to catch a glimpse of popular artists like Sunil Edirisinghe and Rohana Weerasinghe as well as Sri LankaEoe1/4aos current Sinhala princess Deepika Priyadarshini, who didnEoe1/4aot disappoint with her soulful traditional Sinhala music performance.

Double delight for Sri Lankans

Rajapakse is credited with heroism and is lauded for his aggressive drive to associate with the people of the south - the Sinhala Buddhist.

Facing the bitter-sweet reality of defeating a sworn enemy

Dhivehi is an Indo-Aryan language, and its closest relative is Sinhala of Sri Lanka, so that they form the southernmost branch of the family, to which Fritz gives the name "Insular Indo-Aryan." This is a reasonable and useful designation worth adopting, perhaps expanded to "Southern Insular Indo-Aryan" to indicate the geographical location more fully and emphasize the separation from the northern IA languages.

The Dhivehi Language: A Descriptive and Historical Grammar of Dhivehi and Its Dialects. 2 vols

However, the inter-ethnic war and the subsequent peace dialogue between the Sinhala majority and Tamil minority could not make sufficient headway due to hawkish elements within Kumaratunga government accusing the negotiators of being soft on security.

Jayasuriya, Taksiri. The Changing Face of Electoral Politics in Sri Lanka, 1994-2004

''The result strengthens Rajapakse's hand in peace negotiations with the Tamil Tigers because the JVP, which takes a hard line Sinhala nationalist stance on this issue, was not able to cash in from that brand of politics,'' an Asian diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

LEAD: Sri Lanka president's party wins local elections

Kiriella had however said that his staffers had merely translated an article published in a website into Sinhala and tried to circulate it among temples and political activists.

Employees of Kiriella's Ministry released

However, this is not the first time when Muslims in Sri Lanka have been subjected to rampant persecution at the hands of Sinhala Buddhists, the majority ethnic-religious group in the island.

Anti-Muslim Violence