Know the Etymology: 201
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 12 October 2017

Iḍama, Iḍamē-gama

இட₃ம, இட₃மேக₃ம
Iḍama, Iḍamē-gama

Iḍama
Iḍam+gama

The halting place, rest house or the landed property of gardens and fields

The halting-place village, the rest-house village or the village of gardens and fields

Iḍama

place, spot (Sinhala, Clough); Iḍa: place, room, opportunity (Sinhala, Clough); Iḍam: place, halting place, rest house for travellers, landed property, gardens and fields; "Sthānaya, Navātẹn gannā tẹna, Tānāyam, Vatukuṁburu" (Sinhala, Sorata); Iḍaṅgē: Iḍam+gē: house where chiefs and visitors of rank were lodged in a village, maintained by the village headman (Sinhala, Codrington); Iḍam-vaḷavu: official residence of a temple superintendent, "Dēvālayaka basnāyaka nilamēṭa niyamita gēya Iṭam: place, room, spot, opportunity (Tamil, DED 434); house, residence (Tamil, MTL, Tivākaram, 5: 154); abode (Tamil, Caṅkam diction, Kuṟuntokai, 209: 2-3); place to stay or to take rest on the way (Tamil, Caṅkam diction, Naṟṟiṇai, 29: 2); land, jungle, surface, area, world, time, cattle pen (Tamil, Akanāṉūṟu, 58: 3; 269: 7-8; 295: 10-11; Puṟanāṉūṟu, 50: 13-14; Patiṟṟuppattu, 52: 28; Piṅkalam, 10: 34; 10: 731); locative case suffix (Tamil, Tolkāppiyam, 11: 21); place, spot, house, time (Malayalam, DED 434); Iḍe: place, spot, ground (Kannada, DED 434); place, room, space, abode (Tulu, DED 434); Eḍamu: place, space, room, opportunity, time, occasion (Telugu, DED 434); Iṭu: (verb) to place, lay (Tamil, DED 442); cognates in 18 Dravidian languages

Gama

village (Sinhala, see column 36)

Iḍam/ Iḍama is a common word in Sinhala, meaning any place or spot.

In Sinhala usage, the word also means a halting place, rest house for travellers, or a landed property of gardens and fields (Sorata). Place names mostly come in the latter shades of meanings.

The Sinhala word is a cognate of Iṭam in Tamil/ Dravidian, which basically means a place and shares the other meanings too (see box). Iṭam in Tamil corresponds to the verb Iṭu (to place or lay anything).

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Early usage example of Iṭam in Tamil:

"அழல் அவிர் நீள் இடை நிழல் இடம் பெறாஅ" (நற்றிணை 29: 2)

"Aḻal avir nīḷ iṭai niḻal iṭam peṟāa" (Naṟṟiṇai 29: 2)

Without getting a shady place in the heat radiating expanse (of the arid tract)

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Iḍama is a place in Moratuwa division of Colombo district

Iḍamē-gama comes as a place name in Thumpane division of Kandy district; Soranathota division of Badulla district; Uva Paranagama division of Badulla district; Welimada division of Badulla district and in Ella division of Badulla district.

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Some related place names:

Iḍama-landa: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya. Landa: low jungle

Iḍam-piṭiya: Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya; Mawanella, Kegalle. Piṭiya: high ground plain

Iḍamē-paňguva: Soranathota, Badulla. Paňguva: part

Iḍaň-gama: Iḍam+gama: Yatawata division, Matale district

Iḍaň-goḍa: Iḍam+goḍa: Kiriella, Ratnapura. Goḍa: hill, bank, village

Iḍan-toṭa: Iḍam+toṭa: Hikkaduwa, Galle. Toṭa: ferry point, port

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Revised: Friday, 12 October 2017, 18:30

First published: Tuesday, 05 April 2011, 20:29