Standard Lemma guide

Sinhalese

adj · noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /sɪnhəˈliːz/
  • /sɪnəˈliːz/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -iːz
  • CMU ARPABET: S IH2 N AH0 L IY1 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or pertaining to the majority ethnic group of Sri Lanka, their Indo-Aryan language, or their culture.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A Sinhalese person: a member of the majority ethnic group of Sri Lanka.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The Indo-Aryan language of the Sinhalese people.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

of or relating to the Sinhalese people

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Sinhalese rebels fighting the Tamils

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Singhalese

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

of or relating to the Sinhalese languages

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the Sinhalese versions of the Ramayana

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Sinhala, Singhalese

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

the Indic language spoken by the people of Sri Lanka

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Singhalese, Sinhala

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Sanskrit, Sanskritic language

7

noun

Meaning 7

a native or inhabitant of Sri Lanka

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Singhalese

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Asian, Asiatic

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English Sinhala Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-iskbor. Late Latin -iscus ▲ Vulgar Latin -iscus Latin -ēnsis Old French -eisbor. Middle English -eys English -ese English Sinhalese From Sinhala + -ese.

Across languages

Translations

112 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: цейлонски (cejlonski) — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Catalan: singalès — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Cherokee: ᏏᎾᎭᎳ (sinahala) — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Czech: sinhálský — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • French: cinghalais — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • German: singhalesisch — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Hindi: सिंहली (sĩhlī) — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Irish: Siolónach — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Macedonian: синхалски (sinhalski) — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Malay: Sinhala — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Manx: Seeloinagh — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Norwegian Bokmål: singalesisk — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: singalesisk — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Polish: syngaleski — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Portuguese: cingalês — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Russian: синга́льский (singálʹskij) — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Sinhalese: ශ්රී ලාංකීය (śrī lāṁkīya) — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Spanish: cingalés — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Swedish: singalesisk — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Turkish: Seylanca — of or pertaining to Sri Lanka
  • Catalan: singalès — Sinhalese person
  • Chinese Mandarin: 僧伽罗人 — Sinhalese person
  • Czech: Sinhálec — Sinhalese person
  • Finnish: singaleesi — Sinhalese person
  • French: Cingalais — Sinhalese person
  • French: Cinghalais — Sinhalese person
  • French: Singalais — Sinhalese person
  • French: Singhalais — Sinhalese person
  • French: Srilankais — Sinhalese person
  • French: Sri-Lankais — Sinhalese person
  • French: Ceylanais — Sinhalese person
  • French: Cingalaise — Sinhalese person
  • French: Cinghalaise — Sinhalese person
  • French: Singalaise — Sinhalese person
  • French: Singhalaise — Sinhalese person
  • French: Srilankaise — Sinhalese person
  • French: Sri-Lankaise — Sinhalese person
  • French: Ceylanaise — Sinhalese person
  • German: Singhalese — Sinhalese person
  • German: Singhalesin — Sinhalese person
  • Hindi: सिंहली (sĩhlī) — Sinhalese person
  • Hungarian: szingaléz — Sinhalese person
  • Irish: Siolónach — Sinhalese person
  • Italian: singalese — Sinhalese person
  • Italian: singalesi — Sinhalese person
  • Macedonian: Синхалец (Sinhalec) — Sinhalese person
  • Macedonian: Синхалка (Sinhalka) — Sinhalese person
  • Malay: Sinhala — Sinhalese person
  • Manx: Seeloinagh — Sinhalese person
  • Marathi: सिंहली (siuhlī) — Sinhalese person
  • Norwegian Bokmål: singaleser — Sinhalese person
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: singalesar — Sinhalese person
  • Polish: Syngalez — Sinhalese person
  • Polish: Syngalezka — Sinhalese person
  • Portuguese: cingalês — Sinhalese person
  • Russian: синга́лец (singálec) — Sinhalese person
  • Russian: синга́лка (singálka) — Sinhalese person
  • Sinhalese: සිංහල (siṁhala) — Sinhalese person
  • Sinhalese: සිංහලයා (siṁhalayā) — Sinhalese person
  • Sinhalese: හෙළයා (heḷayā) — Sinhalese person
  • Spanish: cingalés — Sinhalese person
  • Swedish: singales — Sinhalese person
  • Tamil: சிங்களர் (ciṅkaḷar) — Sinhalese person
  • Uzbek: Singalcha — Sinhalese person
  • Uzbek: Singal — Sinhalese person
  • Arabic: سِنْهَالِيّ (sinhāliyy) — the language
  • Arabic: لُغَة سِنْهَالِيَّة (luḡa sinhāliyya) — the language
  • Armenian: սինհալերեն (sinhaleren) — the language
  • Asturian: ceilandés — the language
  • Bulgarian: синха́лски (sinhálski) — the language
  • Bulgarian: синха́лски ези́к (sinhálski ezík) — the language
  • Catalan: singalès — the language
  • Cherokee: ᏏᎾᎭᎳ (sinahala) — the language
  • Cherokee: ᏏᏅᎭᎳ (sinvhala) — the language
  • Chinese Mandarin: 僧伽羅語 /僧伽罗语 (Sēngjiāluóyǔ) — the language
  • Czech: sinhálština — the language
  • Finnish: sinhali — the language
  • Finnish: singaleesi — the language
  • French: cinghalais — the language
  • Georgian: სინჰალა (sinhala) — the language
  • German: Singhalesisch — the language
  • Hindi: सिंहली भाषा (sĩhlī bhāṣā) — the language
  • Hindi: सिंहली (sĩhlī) — the language
  • Hindi: सिंहाली (sĩhālī) — the language
  • Hungarian: szingaléz — the language
  • Irish: Siolóinis — the language
  • Japanese: シンハラ語 (Shinhara-go) — the language
  • Korean: 싱할라어 (Singhalla'eo) — the language
  • Northern Kurdish: kîngalî — the language
  • Macedonian: синхалски (sinhalski) — the language
  • Manx: Seeloinish — the language
  • Marathi: सिंहली (siuhlī) — the language
  • Navajo: Sínghal bizaad — the language
  • Norwegian Bokmål: singalesisk — the language
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: singalesisk — the language
  • Persian: زبان سینهالی — the language
  • Polish: syngaleski — the language
  • Portuguese: cingalês — the language
  • Portuguese: cingalá — the language
  • Portuguese: cingala — the language
  • Russian: синга́льский (singálʹskij) — the language
  • Russian: синга́льский язы́к (singálʹskij jazýk) — the language
  • Sinhalese: සිංහල (siṁhala) — the language
  • Sinhalese: සිංහල භාෂාව (siṁhala bhāṣāwa) — the language
  • Sinhalese: හෙළ බස (heḷa basa) — the language
  • Spanish: cingalés — the language
  • Swedish: singalesiska — the language
  • Tamil: சிங்களம் (ciṅkaḷam) — the language
  • Telugu: సింహళీయ (siṁhaḷīya) — the language
  • Thai: ภาษาสิงหล (paa-săa sĭng-hŏn) — the language
  • Urdu: سنگھالی — the language
  • Uzbek: Singal — the language
Real reading context

Sinhalese in complete knowledge articles