from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. An Austro-Asiatic language family spoken in northeast India and adjacent regions and including Santali.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- proper n. An Austroasiatic language family of central and eastern India and Bangladesh, including Ho, Mundari, Santali, and others.
- n. Any member of an Adivasi people of eastern India and parts of Bangladesh.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. a family of languages spoken by people scattered throughout central India
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Similarly the term Munda, which at first meant the headman of a Kol village, is now the common name for the Kol tribe in Chota Nagpur.
Interestingly, Munda is from such a poor background that he can't even afford to think about bribing someone.
The word Munda is a Sanskrit derivative meaning a head, and, as stated by Sir H. Risley, is the common term employed by the
The Nanakpanthi retains the Hindu custom of shaving the whole head except the _choti_ or scalp-lock, and hence is often known as a Munda or shaven Sikh.
None of the writers quoted notice the name Munda as applied to the headman of an Oraon village, but it can hardly be doubted that it is connected with that of the tribe; and it would be interesting also to know whether the Pahan or village priest takes his name from the Pans or Gandas.
They cannot therefore on the evidence of language be classified as a Munda or Kolarian or as a Dravidian tribe.
Mundari names, it may be noted that the headman of an Oraon village is termed Munda and is considered to be descended from its founder, while for the Pahan or priest of the village gods, the Oraons always employ a Munda if available, and it is one of the Pahan's duties to point out the boundary of the village in cases of dispute; this is a function regularly assigned to the earliest residents, and seems to be strong evidence that the Oraons found the Mundas settled in Chota
The Munda tribe see such a growth in young children as a bad omen and believe it makes them prone to attacks by tigers and another animals.
"We performed the marriage because it will overcome any curse that might fall on the child as well on us," the boy's father, Sanarumala Munda, was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.
Munda started as a welder and went on to become a contractor.