INDIA-L Archives

From: Esther Mary Lyons <>
Subject: Re: The word "topas"
Date: Wed, 08 Jul 1998 22:46:44 +1000

I know that in British India the word "Tope" or "Topee" was used for a
hat which was worn by the British gentleman while out in sun. I know
that in the south, in Tamil they used the word, "Topas" instead of
"Topee" for the hat.
Esther Lyons

Jean-Claude Fray wrote:

> The discussion about ayah and amah in this list, some weeks ago, was
> very interesting. Ayah was a word used by French in Pondicherry too
> (spelling : aya).
> My question is about the word "topas", the etymology of which is much
> debated (either from Hindi, or from Tamil via Portuguese, or directly
> from Portuguese). The word "topas" was used in Portuguese Asia and in
> French India ("topas" for male and "topasine" for female in French) to
>
> designate Christian half-caste from Portuguese origin.
> Am I right if I assume that this word was not used at all in British
> India ? Does anybody know whether it was used in other European
> languages besides French and Portuguese ?
> Many thanks in advance.
>
> Jean-Claude.
>
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This thread:

• Re: The word "topas" by Esther Mary Lyons <>