List of Sinhala words of Portuguese origin

Note: For information on the transcription used, see National Library at Calcutta romanization. Exception from the standard are the romanization of Sinhala long "ä" ([æː]) as "ää", and the non-marking of prenasalized stops.

Sinhala words of Portuguese origin came about during the period of Portuguese colonial rule in Sri Lanka between 1505–1658. This period saw rapid absorption of many Portuguese words into the local language brought about by the interaction between Portuguese colonials and the Sinhalese people, mainly in the coastal areas of the island. A wide variety of words were adopted from administrative terms to military terms, which reveals several points of contact between the two groups. In addition to influences on language, the Portuguese introduced the Catholic religion to Sri Lanka, various forms of western clothing and also contributed to the formation of Baila, a Sri Lankan form of music.

Types of loanwords
Borrowings

The words pertaining to the fields of commerce, administration, botany, food and military are the most numerous; this is to be expected because of many new innovations and goods that reached Sri Lanka via the Portuguese.

However it is important to note that the range of borrowings goes beyond the scope to be expected for a situation where two neighbouring peoples exchange material goods: There are many Portuguese loanwords pertaining to everyday and social life (kinship terms, ordinary activities etc.). Additionally, many lexical words (nouns, adjectives and verbs) have also been borrowed.

The borrowing process

Portuguese loanwords in Sinhala rarely appear in the same form as the original word, the vast majority of them having undergone naturalisation. Usually, a word has undergone some kind of modification to fit into the Sinhala phonological (e.g. bandeja becomes bandesiya because the sound of the Portuguese /j/, does not exist in the Sinhala phoneme inventory) or morphological system (e.g. lenço becomes lensuva because Sinhala inanimate nouns (see grammatical gender) need to end with /a/, [ə], in order to be declineable).

These are the main ways Portuguese words are incorporated into the Sinhala lexicon with different endings:

  • With an /ma/ or /na/ or /va/ added to Portuguese words ending in /o/ (e.g. gancho > gāncuva).
  • With an /aya/ or /uva/ added to Portuguese words ending in consonants (e.g. lençol > lensōluva).
  • With a /ya/ added to words ending in /a/ or /e/ or /i/ (e.g. diamante > diyamantiya).
  • With the animate ending /yā/ or /vā/ added to Portuguese words signifying living beings or (e.g. burro > būruvā).

Adjectives that end in vowels are generally preserved in the original form.

There are over 150 words in the following list.

SinhalaසිංහලMeaningPortugueseMeaningType
āyāආයාDry nurseaiaNurseDaily
äbäärtuvaඇබෑර්තුවVacancyabertoOpen, VacantTrade
äänduruඈඳුරුDillendroDillFood
agōstuඅගෝස්තුAugustagostoAugustDaily
akolඅකොල්akolálcoolAlcoholDaily
alavaṃguvaඅලවංගුවCrow-baralavancaLeverDaily
almānaඅල්මානGermanyAlemanhaGermanyDaily
almāriyaඅල්මාරියalmirah, wardrobearmárioWardrobe, CabinetDaily
almiyaඅල්මියStoraxalmea/almeiaStoraxDaily
almōsa, alumōsuvaඅල්මෝස, අලුමෝසුවBreakfastalmoçoBreakfastDaily
alpenettaඇල්පෙනිත්තPinalfinetePinDaily
alugōsuvāඅලුගෝසුවාExecutioneralgozExecutionerAdministration
āmāආමාWet nurseamaNurseDaily
amandäl/mandälඅමන්දැල්AlmondamêndoaAlmondFood
amēsiඅමේසිPlumameixaPlumFruit
anjuvāඅන්ජුවාAngelanjoAngelDaily
annāsiඅන්නාසිPineappleananásPineappleFruit
arumōsamඅරුමෝසම්Decorative, fancyarmaçãoSetting, TrussDaily
avuelāඅබුලාPaternal GrandmotheravóGrandmotherDaily
avānaඅවානFanabanoFanDaily
avel (aeṭaya)අවෙල්hazel (nut)avelãhazelnutFood
asēntiඅසේන්තිAbsentausenteAbsentDaily
asnuඅස්නුRudeasnoAssDaily
bankōtiyaබංකෝතියBanquetbanquetaBanquetDaily
bolotබොලොත්AcornbolotaAcornDaily
bāldiyaබාල්දියBucketbaldeBucketDaily
bambuvaබම්බුවBamboo, 'bullcrap'bambuBambooDaily
bankalotබංකලොත්BankruptcybancarrotaBankruptcyDaily
baṃkuvaබංකුවBenchbancoBenchDaily
bandēsiyaබන්දේසියTraybandejaTrayDaily
bastonaබස්තමWalking stickbastãoStickDaily
bāsuබාසුDimbaçoDimDaily
battalaබත්තලLighterbatelãoLighterDaily
BayilaබයිලාPortuguese-influenced Sri Lankan musicbaila3rd person present conjugation of "bailar" meaning "to dance"Music
bayinettuvaබයිනෙත්තුවBayonetbaionetaBayonetMilitary
bēbaddā, bebeyāබේබද්දාDrunkardbêbadoDrunkardDaily
bīraluvaබීරළුවBobbinbilroBobbinDaily
bispuvāබිස්පුවාBishopbispoDrunkardDaily
bōnikkāබෝනික්කාDollbonecaDollDaily
boraබොරDregborraDregDaily
bōrdayaබෝර්දයBorderbordaBrim, BorderDaily
bostāduvaබොස්තාදුවSlapbofetadaSlapDaily
bottamaබොත්තමButtonbotãoButtonDaily
bulaබුලBulletbalaBulletMilitary
būliyaබූලියRound jarbuleTeapotDaily
būruvāබූරුවාDonkeyburroDonkeyAnimal
būsiබූසිWadbuchaWadMilitary
cinēlayaචිනේලයSlipperchinelaSlipperClothing
dāduvaදාදුවDicedadoDiceDaily
dātaදාතDatedataDateDaily
didālayaදිදාලයThimblededalThimbleDaily
diyamantiyaදියමන්තියDiamonddiamanteDiamondDaily
DiyoguදියෝගුJamesDiogoJamesProper Name
donදොන්Sir/LorddomSir/LordDaily
dōnāදෝනාDamedonaDameDaily
dōsiදෝසිSweetdoceSweetDaily
dusimaදුසිමDozendúziaDozenDaily
emōsiyaඑමෝසියEmotionemoçãoEmotionDaily
ēraඒරIvyheraIvyBottanical
esmeriඑස්මෙරිemeryesmerilEmeryDaily
esmuvaඑස්මුවa GuessesmoRandomDaily
espāciyaඑස්පාචියCorsetespartilhoCorsetDaily
espētuvaඑස්පේතුවRoasting spitespetoSpitDaily
espiyāඑස්පියාSpyespiãoSpyDaily
galappattiyaගලප්පත්තියCaulkingcalafetagemCaulkingDaily
gāncuvaගාන්චුවHook (of a belt, bracelet)ganchoHookDaily
garādiyaගරාදියWindow grillgradeGrillDaily
gāstuvaගාස්තුවFeegastoExpenseDaily
gääruppuvaගෑරප්පුවForkgarfoForkDaily
gorōsuගොරෝසුCoarsegrossoThickDescriptive
gōvāගෝවාCabbagecouveCabbage, SproutsFood
hōrāvaහෝරාවHourhoraHourDaily
intēruඉන්තේරුEntireinteiroEntireDaily
iskōlayaඉස්කෝලයSchoolescolaSchoolDaily
ispāsuvaඉස්පාසුවSpaceespaçoSpaceDaily
janēlayaජනේලයWindowjanelaWindowConstruction
Jēmisජේමිස්JamesJaimeJamesProper Name
JuseජුසේJosephJoséJosephProper Name
Juwamජුවාම්JohnJoãoJohnProper Name
kabāyaකබායCoatcapaCloakDaily
kabukකබුක්LateritecaboucoLateriteDaily
kābuvaකාබුවCablecaboCableDaily
kaisaකයිසPlatformcaisPlatformDaily
kajuකජුCashewcajuCashewFood
kandalēruvaකඳලේරුවChandeliercandelabroChandelierDaily
kaldēramaකල්දේරමCauldroncaldeirãoCauldronDaily
kalduකල්දුBrothcaldoBrothFood
kalisamaකලිසමPantscalçãoShortsClothing
kamisayaකමිසයShirtcamisaShirtDaily
kappāduකප්පාදුCastratedcapadoGeldingDaily
kappittā, kappitiyā, kapiyāකප්පිත්තාCaptaincapitãoCaptainDaily
kāpiriකාපිරිAfrican (origin)cafreKaffirDaily
kartuwayකාර්තුවේQuarterquartoquarterDaily
kavalāruකවලාරුCavaliercavaleiroCavalierFood
karadamunguකරදමුංගුCardamomcardamomoCardamomFood
karadāsi, kaḍadaāsiකරදාසිPapercartazCardDaily
karattayaකරත්තයCarriage, CartcarretaCarriageDaily
kasādayaකසාදයMarriagecasadaMarriedDaily
kāskuvaකතියාHullcascoHullDaily
KatolikaකතෝලිකCatholicCatólicaCatholicReligious
katiyāකතියාSlave, captivecativaCaptiveDaily
kayilaකයිලPegcavilhaPegDaily
kendiyaකෙන්දියCandlecandeiaLampDaily
kējuකේජුCheesequeijoCheeseFood
kēntiyaකේන්තියAngerquenteHotDaily
kīliyaකීලියkeelquilhakeelDaily
kompāsuvaකොම්පාසුවCompasscompassoCompassDaily
kōndēsiyaකොන්දේසියConditioncondiçãoConditionDaily
kōntarayaකෝන්තරයGrudgecontraAgainstDaily
koralකොරල්CoralcoralCoralDaily
Korosmaකොරොස්මLentQuaresmaLentReligious
kusimaකුසිමCushioncoximCushionDaily
kosuvaකොසුවTroughcochoTroughDaily
kōvayaකෝවයPipecovaPipeDaily
kulunaකුලුනcolumncolunaTroughMilitary
kūññayaකූඤ්ඤයWedgecunhaWedgeDaily
kurusayaකුරුසයCrosscruzCrossReligious
kussiyaකුස්සියKitchencozinhaKitchenDaily
Laskirinyaලස්කිරිඤ්ඤLascarinsLascarimAsian militiamanMilitary
landēsiලන්දේසිDutchholandêsDutchAdministration
lansayaලන්සයLancelançaLanceMilitary
lantäärumaලන්තෑරුමLanternlanternaLanternDaily
lāpilaලාපිලLapellapelaLapelClothing
lasariyaලසරියFlourish/ornamentationlaçariaFlourishDaily
lēndiලෙන්ඩිNitlêndeaNitDaily
lensōluvaලෙන්සෝලුවBedsheetlençolBedsheetDaily
lēnsuvaලේන්සුවHandkerchieflençoHandkerchiefClothing
lingusa, linguyisaලිංගුසtype of dried sausagelinguiçaSausageFood
lisaලිසListliçaListDaily
liyalලියල්LoyallealLoyalDaily
lusaලුසLightluzLightDaily
LusiyāලුසියාLucyLúciaLucyProper Name
mantuvaමාන්තුවCloakmantoMantleClothing
madiriññāමාදිරිඤ්ඤාGodmothermadrinhaGodmotherDaily
mamolමමොල්MarblemármoreMarbleDaily
mantayaමන්තයBlanketmantaBlanketFruit
mantēgaමන්තේගButtermanteigaButterDaily
manyokkāමන්යෝක්කාManiocmandiocamaniocDaily
MariyāමරියාMaryMariaMaryProper Name
mansanaමසන්ApplemaçãAppleFruit
mēsමේස්SocksmeiasSocksDaily
mēsayaමේසයTablemesaTableDaily
mestriමෙස්ත්රිMaster of a trademestreMasterDaily
minindoruමිනින්දෝරුSurveyorMedidorMeasurerDaily
mīsamaමීසමMissionmissãoMissionDaily
mōsuvāමෝසුවාServantmoçoa young manDaily
mūnissamaමූනිස්සමMunitionmuniçãoMunitionMilitary
navālaනාබුClasp KnifenavalhaClasp KnifeDaily
nābuනාබුTurnipnaboturnipFood
nattalaනත්තලChristmasNatalChristmasReligious
nōnāනෝනාLadydonaLadyDaily
nōsනෝස්NutmegnoznutmegFood
notīsiyaනොතීසියNoticenotíciaNoticeAdministration
olamඔලම්ElmolmoElamBotanical
olivaඔලිවOliveolivaOliveFood
ōlandaඕලන්දHollandHolandaHollandAdministration
orasanPrayersoraçõesPrayersReligious
ostensōriyaඔස්ටෙන්සොරියMonstranceostensórioMonstrancedaily
paalatපැලට්PalettepaletaPaletteDaily
padāsaපදාසPortionpedaçoPieceDaily
panaderiāටම්පුවBakerpadeiroBakerDaily
pādiliyāපාදිලියාFatherpadreFatherDaily
pādōlaපාදෝලHand barrowpadiolaHand barrowDaily
pagāvaපගාවBribepagaPay/Salary/WagesAdministration
palmitaපල්මිටSpatulapalmetaSpatulaDaily
pānපාන්BreadpãoBread
paraisuvaපරයිසුවparadiseparaísoParadiseDaily
pāskuvaපාස්කුවEasterPáscoaEasterReligious
pāttayāපාත්තයාGoosepatoduckDaily
padiriññāපාදිරිඤ්ඤාGodfatherpadrinhoGodfatherDaily
painēruvaපයිනේරුවාPioneerpioneiroPioneerDaily
papපාප්PopepapaPopeReligious
pastäälaපස්තෑලPiepastelPastryFood
pavilaපරයිසුවpavilionpavilhãoPavilionDaily
PawuluපාවුළුPaulPauloPaulProper Name
pedarēruvāපෙදරේරුවාMasonpedreiroMasonDaily
PeduruපේදුරුPeterPedroPeterProper Name
penērayaපෙනේරයSievepeneiraSieveDaily
peragamපෙරගම්BannsproclamasBannsDaily
perakadōruvāපෙරකදෝරුවාProctorprocuradorProctorDaily
perakalāsiyaපෙරකලාසියWarrant of Attorney, proxyprocuraçãoProxyDaily
perōlaපෙරෝලPearlpérolaPearlDaily
piguraපිගුරFigurefiguraFiverDaily
pikamaපිකමPickaxepicãoPickaxeMilitary
pīkuduපීකුදුLiver (of animals)fígadoLiverDaily
pinuපිනුPinepinhoPineBotanical
pinsayaපින්සයTweezerpinçaTweezerDaily
pintāruvaපින්තාරුවPaintingpinturaPainting, PictureDaily
pintūrayaපින්තූරයPicturepinturaPainting, PictureDaily
pinsalaපින්සලPaintbrushpincelBrushDaily
pīppayaපීප්පයCask/BarrelpipaCaskDaily
pipiññāපිපිඤ්ඤාCucumberpepinoCucumberFood
pistōlayaපිස්තෝලයPistolpistolaPistolArmy
pīrisiyaපීරිසියSaucerpiresSaucerDaily
pīttayaපීත්තයRibbonfitaRibbonClothing
poloiyyaපොලොඉය්යFlouncefolhoFlounceDaily
pōranuwaපෝරණුවOven, kilnfornoOvenDaily
pōrtayaපෝර්තයPortholeportoDoorDaily
prāskuvaප්රාස්කුවFlaskfrascoFlaskDaily
puliyaපුලියPulleypoliaPulleyDaily
punīlayaපුනීලයFunnelfunilFunnelDaily
rābuරාබුRadishrábanoRadishFood
raivayaරයිවයAngerraivaAngerDaily
rancuvaරංචුවHerd, groupranchoDaily
rāttalaරාත්තලPound (measurement)arrátelPoundDaily
rēndayaරේන්දයLacerendaLaceClothing
rōdayaරෝදයWheelrodaWheelDaily
rōmānuරෝමානුRomanromanoRomanDaily
rōsaරෝසRose, PinkrosaRose, PinkDaily
rūbiyaරූබියRubyrubiRubyDaily
rulanරුලන්SemolinarolãoSemolinaFood
rusuරුසුGreyruçoGreyDaily
sabanසබන්SoapsabãoSoapDaily
sakōlaසකෝලSatchelsacolaSatchelDaily
sākkuvaසාක්කුවPocketsacoSackDaily
salādayaසලාදයSaladsaladaSaladFood
Santhiyaguසන්තියාගුJamesSantiagoJamesProper Name
sāntuසාන්තුHolysantoHolyDaily
santuvāriyaසාන්තුවරියSanctuarysantuárioSanctuaryDaily
sapatēruvāසපතේරුවාShoemakersapateiroShoemakerFood
sapattuvaසපත්තුවShoesapatoShoeClothing
sarampaසරම්පMeaslessarampoMeaslesDaily
saruvālaසරුවාලPyjamaceroulasPantsDaily
sātanසාතන්SatansatãSatanDaily
setimසෙතිම්SatincetimSatinClothing
sāvālaසාවාලsávelsabãoShadDaily
savudiyaසවුදියa toastsaúdehealthDaily
sāyaසායSkirtsaiaSkirtClothing
sēdaසේදsilksedasilkClothing
senilසේනිල්senilesenilsenileDaily
sēriyāසේරියාmermaidsereiamermaidDaily
säsiyaසැසියsessionsessãosessionDaily
sidādiyaසිදාදියCitycidadeCityAdministration
silimaසිලිමShillingxelimShillingDaily
sinyōසින්යෝSirsenhorSirDaily
simentiසිමෙන්තිCementcimentoCementDaily
sinālaසිනාලSignalsinalsinalDaily
sinsēruvaසින්සේරුවashtraycinzeiroashtrayDaily
sintuvaසින්තුවBeltcintobeltDaily
sīnuvaසීනුවBellsinoBellDaily
siññōසිඤ්ඤෝSirsenhorSirDaily
sitāsiසිතාසිSummonscitaçãoMonitionAdministration
sokolatසොකොලත්ChocolatechocolateChocolateFood
soldāduvāසොල්දාදුවාSoldiersoldadoSoldierMilitary
stōlayaස්තෝලයStoleestolaStoleDaily
sumānayaසුමානයWeeksemanaWeekDaily
sumāsuසුමාසුPaddingchumaçoWaddingMilitary
sukiriසූකිරිSugaraçúcarSugarFood
tācciyaතාච්චියFrying pantachoPanDaily
tambōruwaතම්බෝරුවTambourinetamborDrumDaily
täbäärumaතැබෑරුමTaverntabernaTavernDaily
tampuvaතම්පුවEnvelopetampoCoverDaily
tapaතපSlaptapaSlapDaily
tävaතැවTowertorreTowerDaily
tapēsiyaතපේසියCarpettapeteCarpetDaily
tasaතසCuptaçaCupDaily
tāppayaතාප්පයParapet walltaipaParapet wallDaily
testamēntuvaතෙස්තමේන්තුවTestamenttestamentoTestamentDaily
tōntuvaතෝන්තුවdizzinesstontodizzyDaily
toppiyaතොප්පියhattopoCapClothing
tīntaතීන්තInk, painttintaInk, paintDaily
tiringuතිරිඟුWheattrigoWheatFood
tīruvaතීරුවCustoms dutytiroCustomsAdministration
tōmbuvaතෝම්බුවRegistertomboRegisterAdministration
tuvāyaතුවායToweltoalhaTowelDaily
valaවළPitvalaDitchMilitary
ventuවෙන්තුWindyventoWindDaily
vestiyaවෙස්තියWaistcoatvéstiaWaistcoatDaily
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vinākiriවිනාකිරිVinegarvinagreVinegarFood
vīduruvaවීදුරුවGlassvidroGlassDaily
visitaවිසිතVisitvisitaVisitDaily
viskōtuvaවිස්කෝතුවBiscuitbiscoitoBiscuitFood
visitaවිසිතVisitvisitaVisitDaily
vīvā, viyavāWidowviúvaWidowDaily
violaවිඔලGuitarviolãoGuitarMusic

Proper Names
Former Sri Lankan cricketer Chaminda Vaas is one of many Sinhalese with a surname of Portuguese origin.

Many Sinhalese adopted Portuguese names, especially surnames. Some are very common (e.g. Perera, De Silva). The names, however, do not necessarily denote Portuguese ancestry or Christian religious affiliation, with many Buddhist Sinhalese having Portuguese-origin surnames, as Buddhism does not recognise the notion of heresy for not naming their children with names which do not originate from the Pali language

Sri Lankan FormසිංහලPortuguese
Aponsoඅපොන්සුAfonso
Cabralකබ්රාල්Cabral
Caldera, Kalderaකල්දේරාCaldeira
CoreaකෝරියාCorreia
Croosක්රූස්Cruz
De Abrewද අබ්රිව්Abreu
De Almeda, Almedaද අල්මේදා, අල්මේදාDe Almeida
De Alwisද අල්විස්Alves
De Costaද කොස්තාDa Costa
De Livera, Liveraද ලිවේරා, ලිවේරාDe Oliveira
De Melද මෙල්Melo
De Sampayo, Sampayoද සම්පයෝ, සම්පයෝSampaio
De Saramද සේරම්Serra
De Silva, Silvaද සිල්වා, සිල්වාDa Silva
Diasදිඅස්Dias
Fonsekaෆොන්සේකාFonseca
Fernandoප්‍රනාන්දුFernandes
Gomes, Gomisගෝමෙස්, ගෝමිස්Gomes
Gonsalkoraleගොන්සල් කෝරලේGonçalves
Greroග්රේරුGuerreiro
Mendisමෙන්ඩිස්Mendes
Nonisනෝනිස්Nunes
Pasqual, Pasquelපැස්කුවල්Pascoal
PereraපෙරේරාPereira
Peirisපීරිස්Peres
Pintoපින්ටෝPinto
Rodrigoරොද්රිගෝRodrigues
RosaරෝසාRosa
Salgadoසල්ගාදුSalgado
SigeraසීගේරාSiqueira
Suwarisසුවාරිස්Soares
Tisera, TisseraතිසෙරාTeixeira
Vaasවාස්Vaz
Vadumestri, Vadumestrigeවඩුමෙස්ට්‍රි, වඩුමෙස්ට්‍රිගේCombination of Sinhala Vadu meaning carpenter, Português mestre meaning "master of a trade" and Sinhala ge meaning "house of"

See also
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