tindal

See also: Tindal

English

Etymology

From Malayalam തണ്ടല് (taṇṭal) or Telugu తండేలు (taṇḍēlu), ultimately from Proto-Dravidian *tanḍal-.

Noun

tindal (plural tindals)

1. (India, dated) A petty officer among lascars; a boatswain's mate; a cockswain.
   • 2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 16:

     One thing that continued unchanged was the division of the crew into two watches, each led by a tindal.

2. (India, dated) An attendant on an army.
   • 1844, Peter Lund Simmonds, “The Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon”, in Simmonds's Colonial Magazine and Foreign Miscellany, volume 3, page 131:

     The party left the island about four o clock in the afternoon, and after a pleasant passage of three hours, arrived at the Jaffna Customs, where a most untoward event took place which tended greatly to mar the pleasure of the day: the unfortunate wag of a tindal not having brought a boat-note with him, the tide-waiters at the Custom-house detained all the oysters belonging to the party, which were immediately removed to the Custom-house and kept there under lock and key, pending the decision of the acting Controller of Customs!

Anagrams

• Tandil