Negombo

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A coastal city on the western shore of Sri Lanka, located north of the capital Colombo and known for its fishing industry and beaches
2. A seaside town in western Sri Lanka situated just north of Colombo, famous for its fishing boats, lagoon and beach resorts
3. Located on the west coast of Sri Lanka, this city lies north of Colombo and is a center of fishing and tourism along the Indian Ocean

Etymology: Negombo is a coastal city in western Sri Lanka, and the English word that bears its name is a place-name borrowing with a rather tangled route. The city's name comes from Tamil "nīrkoḻumpu", a compound that is usually glossed as something like "water-lily place" or "place of the lily" (the second element relates to a flower or root of that kind). Portuguese traders, who arrived on the island in the sixteenth century, adapted the name into "Negombo", and it was in that Portuguese form that it reached English-speaking writers. Because the word is simply a town name carried over into English, it carries none of the figurative shifts found in many loanwords. Its interest lies in the chain of languages it passed through: a South Indian language, then the Portuguese of colonial traders, then English. The English noun is used for the place itself and for things associated with it.