Know the Etymology: 105
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 13 April 2017

Neṭu-varampu

நெடுவரம்பு
Neṭu-varampu

Neṭu+varampu

The long dam or bund

Varampu

boundary, limit, extent, ridge of a field, causeway (Tamil, DED 5261); Varai 1: (verb) to limit; (noun) small ridge as or paddy field, bank, shore, limit, boundary, measure, extent, place, time (Tamil, DED 5261); Varaippu: limit, boundary, wall, enclosure (Tamil, DED 5261); Varai 2: (verb) to restrain, exclude (Tamil, DED 5273); Vara: bank-like place, surrounding, enclosure, wall; "Goḍa vana tẹna, Āvaraṇaya, Prākāraya (Sinhala, Sorata); see column 282 for usage in Sinhala place names

Neṭu

(adjective) long, tall; (verb) to be long, become tall (Tamil, DED 3738); Neṭumai: (noun) length, extension, tallness (Tamil, DED 3738)

The term Varampu or Varappu in Tamil commonly means a bund or a ridge as found in paddy fields. It also means a bank built along a water-body. See box for the other meanings. The term listed as Dravidian, corresponds to the verb Varai, meaning to limit or to restrain (DED 5261, 5273). See box for the noun meanings of Varai. Vara is a cognate in Sinhala. See column 282 for toponymic usage of Vara in Sinhala place names.

Neṭu is a word of common usage in Tamil/ Dravidian, meaning long or tall. It also means extensive, as in Neṭun-tīvu, Neṭuṅ-kaṇṭal etc. The word is the adjective form of the verb Neṭu and noun Neṭumai in Tamil.

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Neṭu-varampu is a place in Manthai West division of Mannar district. The place near Ālkāṭṭiveḷi has a long bund; longer than what is needed for the tank seen there at present (Mantai One Inch Sheet).

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Revised: Thursday, 13 April 2017, 20:00

First published: Tuesday, 12 August 2008, 22:49