Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Coolie

Coo′lie

,
Noun.
Same as
Cooly
.
{

Coo′ly

,

Coo′lie

}
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Coolies
(#)
.
[Hind.
k[GREEK]lī
a laborer, porter: cf. Turk.
k[GREEK]l
,
ky[GREEK]leh
, slave.]
An East Indian porter or carrier; a laborer transported from the East Indies, China, or Japan, for service in some other country.

Definition 2024

coolie

coolie

English

Alternative forms

Noun

coolie ‎(plural coolies)

  1. (offensive, slang) An unskilled Asian worker, usually of Chinese or Indian descent; a labourer; a porter. Coolies were frequently transported to other countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries as indentured labourers.
  2. (offensive, slang, Trinidad, West Indies, Guyana and parts of Africa) A person of Indian descent.

Derived terms

  • coolie orange

Translations

References

  • Yule, Henry and Burnell, A. C. (1886): Hobson-Jobson The Anglo-Indian Dictionary. Reprint: Ware, Hertfordshire. Wordsworth Editions Limited. 1996.
  • Le grand dictionnaire Ricci de la langue chinoise, (2001), Vol. III, p. 833.

Etymology

From Hindi-Urdu क़ुली ‎(qulī) / قلی ‎(qulī, “hired laborer, slave”), from Turkish köle. Other forms occur in Bengali [script needed] ‎(kuli) and Tamil [script needed] ‎(kuli, “daily hire”). The Mandarin word 苦力 ‎(kǔlì), meaning "to exert one's abilities; heavy labour work" in Classical Chinese, may have been influenced by cognates of the above Hindi word in other languages and may have further influenced English.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkuːli/
  • Rhymes: -uːli

Similar Results