koelie

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans koelie.

Noun

koelie (plural koelies)

1. (South Africa) Alternative spelling of coolie

Afrikaans

Noun

koelie (plural koelies)

1. (offensive) A coolie (a person from India or of Indian ancestry)

Dutch

Etymology

From Indonesian. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈku.li/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: koe‧lie

Noun

koelie m (plural koelies, diminutive koelietje n)

1. (historical) coolie (Asian manual worker) [from 17th c.]
2. (Netherlands, derogatory, offensive) coolie (person of Indian or Indonesian background)
3. (Suriname, derogatory, offensive) coolie (Indian Surinamese person, a Surinamese person of Indian descent)

Descendants

• Afrikaans: koelie
• → Caribbean Javanese: kuli
• → Papiamentu: kuli
• → Sranan Tongo: kuli

See also

• Koelieordonnantie