ˌEast ˈIndian, a. and n.
[f. as prec. + -an.]
A. as adj.
1. Of or pertaining to the East Indies.
| 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 8 The Ilandes of Molucca situate in the mayne Easte Indian Sea. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 105 From the coast of the East Indian sea. 1951 R. Mayer Artist's Handbk. of Materials & Techniques xii. 415 East Indian Laurel, a dark, reddish-brown wood with a wavy grain, strong and elastic. 1961 B.S.I. News Sept. 13/2 Specifications for oil of East Indian lemongrass. |
2. In Anglo-Indian use; = Eurasian a.
| 1831 Asiatic Jrnl. New Ser. VI. ii. 106 The Calcutta East-Indian petition. 1849 Calcutta Rev. XI. 74 The present situation and prospects of the East-Indian body. |
B. as n.
1. A Eurasian.
| 1801 Jane Austen Let. 8 Jan. (1952) 106 Mrs. Laurel is going to be married to a Mr. Hinchman, a rich East Indian. 1817 M. Edgeworth Harrington I. vii. 147 ‘Who is she?’ ‘An East Indian, I should guess, by her dark complexion.’ 1831 Asiatic Jrnl. New Ser. VI. ii. 106 A meeting of East-Indians took place at the Town Hall. 1849 Calcutta Rev. XI. 74 The East-Indians obtained the privilege of sitting on the..Juries. |
2. A man descended from one of the indigenous peoples of the Indian sub-continent, esp. if resident in the West Indies.
| 1931 Everyman Encycl. (ed. 2) III. 23/1 In 1928 the pop. [of British Guiana] was 307,784, which includes E. Indian immigrants. 1961 Outlook Feb. 214 East Indians is the name given to the descendants of those who came to British Guiana from India as indentured labourers between 1838 and 1917; the name also includes the few who themselves came from India. East Indians make up the largest group in British Guiana's total population of 540,000. |