sb. and a. Also 8–9 Tellinga, 8 -ger, -gy, Telingee, Talinga. [Of uncertain origin: supposed by some to be the original form of the word Telugu, and held to be itself derived from Skr. Trilinga meaning ‘the three lingams,’ according to an alleged tradition that the god Śiva descended in the form of a lingam upon three mountains said to mark the boundaries of the Telugu country. But Dravidian scholars are inclined to view this as a mere etymological figment, and even doubt whether Telugu and Telinga have any original connection. It is certain however that 17th-c. English writers called the language Telinga, and that in Hindūstānī a Telugu is called Tilanga and the Telugu country Tilangāna: cf. Rājpūtāna.]
1. The TELUGU language. (As sb. or a.)
1698. Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 33. Their Language they call generally Gentu.… The peculiar Name of their Speech is Telinga.
1800. Asiatic Ann. Reg., 186/2. I had now entered on that part of India which bears the name of Tellingana, whose inhabitants are called Tellingies, who speak what is denominated the Tellingy language.
2. One of the Telugu people.
1800. [see 1].
1840. Malcom, Trav., 19/1. This people, whose name is often written Telinga, or Kalinga, are generally called, by European writers, Gentoos.
† b. spec. A native Indian soldier disciplined and dressed in quasi-European fashion; a sepoy. Obs.
1760. in J. Long, Select. Unpubl. Records (1869), 235 (Y.), 300. Telingees are run away, and entered into the Beerboom Rajah’s service. Ibid. (1761), 258. Tellingers.
1766. Grose, Voy. E. Ind. (1772), I. Gloss. (Y.). Sepoys, sometimes called Tellingas.
1789. Seir Mutaqherin, II. 92 (Y.). Hindu soldiers, armed and accoutred and disciplined in the European manner of fighting: I mean those soldiers that are become so famous under the name of Talingas.
1827. Scott, Surgeon’s Dau., xiii. I have been a Telinga … in the Company’s service, and have eaten their salt.
1883. Sat. Rev., 27 Jan., 120/1. The Oriental portions or Clive’s army were known to the Bengalis of Nuddea as Telingas, because they came, or were supposed to have accompanied him, from Telingana or Madras.
3. (See quot.)
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Tellinga, a dhoney or native coasting vessel on the coast of Coromandel.
4. attrib. Telinga potato, Amorphophallus campanulatus: see POTATO 4.
