Know the Etymology: 436
Place Name of the Day: Saturday, 02 January 2016

Mædilla, Del-gaha-mædilla

மெ[æ]டில்ல, தெ₃ல்க₃ஹ-மெ[æ]டில்ல
Mæḍilla, Del-gaha-mæḍilla

Mædilla
Del+gaha+mædilla

The jungle or circle

The jungle or circle of wild breadfruit trees

Mædilla1	jungle, thicket (Sinhala, Clough); Ma'ndu, Ma'ndi: (verb) grow vehement, growing densely as of a thicket, jungle etc., (Kaadu-ma'ndiya, Puthar-ma'ndiya), crowded, to be close together, abundance (Tamil, DED 4681); Mat: thick, dense as of hair, jungle etc. (Brahui, DED 4681)
Mædilla2	ring, circle (Sinhala, Clough): = Ma'ndalaya (Sinhala, Clough); Mædili: = Ma'ndalaya (Sinhala, Sorata); Ma'ndala: disc, ball, circle, district, circular, (Sanskrit, CDIAL 9742); CDIAL cites Dravidian origin; Mudalai: ball, globe (Tamil, DED 4919); from the root Muda: curve, bend (Tamil, DED 4919, Ku'runthokai, 209: 5); Muddai: egg, world as globe, universe as globe (Tamil, DED 4939, Ku'runthokai, 38: 1; Pu'ranaanoo'ru, 173: 6-7; Suntharar, 14: 33); Madangku: to become bent (Tamil, DED 4645); Ma'ndilam: circle, continent surrounded by sea (Tamil, Ku'runthokai, 300: 7); disc of the Sun (Tamil, Natti'nai, 67: 1); disc of the Moon (Tamil, Natti'nai, 375: 7); the Earth (Tamil, Akanaanoo'ru, 104: 5); Ma'ndai: head, skull, earthen vessel (Tamil, DED 4682); cognates in 10 Dravidian languages;
Del	wild breadfruit peculiar to the island, Artocarpus nobilis (Sinhala, Clough); Aagnchali: jungle jack, Artocarpus incisa (Tamil, DED 365). See column on Del-wagura

Mædilla is a rarely found Sinhala place name component. A jungle or thicket is one meaning given for the word by Clough. Another meaning is a circle or ring. Sorata's dictionary has an entry for a word Mædili, equating it with Ma'ndalaya, meaning circumference in general as well as a district, province or region.

The jungle/ thicket meaning is more appropriate to the context, but the etymology is not explicit. One possibility is the Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 4681) verb form Ma'ndu/ Ma'ndi, meaning to grow dense as of a thicket or jungle. A cognate could be found in Brahui as well.

For Ma'ndala, A Comparative Dictionary of Indo-Aryan Languages (CDIAL 9742) traces Dravidian etymology. See box.

Del-gaha means wild breadfruit tree in Sinhala. See column on Del-wagura for etymology.

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Mædilla is a place in Tangalle division of Hambantota district.

Del-gaha-mædilla is in Mirigama division of Gampaha district.

First published: Saturday, 02 January 2016, 21:35