కూలీ

Telugu

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindustani क़ुली (qulī) / قلی (qulī, “hired laborer, slave”), perhaps from Turkic, compare Turkish köle. Cognate with Tamil கூலி (kūli), Bengali কুলি (kuli, “daily hire”). The Mandarin word 苦力 (kǔlì), was originally a transcription of the Hindi, and literally means "bitterly hard (use of) strength".

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kuːliː/

Noun

కూలీ • (kūlī) ? (plural కూలీలు)

  1. a hired laborer or workman, one who works for wages, a coolie
    Synonyms: కూలివాడు (kūlivāḍu), కూలిమనిషి (kūlimaniṣi)
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