koelie

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English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Afrikaans koelie.

Noun

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koelie (plural koelies)

  1. (South Africa) Alternative spelling of coolie

Afrikaans

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Noun

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koelie (plural koelies)

  1. (offensive) A coolie (a person from India or of Indian ancestry)

Dutch

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Etymology

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From Indonesian. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈku.li/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: koe‧lie

Noun

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koelie m (plural koelies, diminutive koelietje n)

  1. (historical) coolie (Asian manual worker) [from 17th c.]
  2. (Netherlands, derogatory, offensive) coolie (person of Indian or Indonesian background)
  3. (Suriname, derogatory, offensive) coolie (Indian Surinamese person, a Surinamese person of Indian descent)

Descendants

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  • Afrikaans: koelie
  • Caribbean Javanese: kuli
  • Papiamentu: kuli
  • Sranan Tongo: kuli

See also

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