The meaning of the word "Anaconda"?

Question

I keep reading that the word "Anaconda" was derived from Tamil and Sinhalese to mean something along the lines of "elephant" and "killer". These languages are from Sri Lanka which have elephants. South America doesn't have elephants so why would english speakers call them "elephant killers" when they have never killed an elephant (I know names can be an exaggeration), let alone be on the same continent. I just don't understand how people can associate words to things that don't have any business being associated together. Any thoughts? I know this is random, but it bugs me. Also, if you have any other example of these, please feel free to add.

Answer 1

While unusual, it is not unheard of for a word from a distant language to be used to name something. Brazil was a Portuguese colony. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Portuguese also controlled Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Many, many Sinhalese and Tamils worked for the Portuguese and it's nearly certain that many of these workers from Ceylon ended up visiting or settling in Brazil. They could easily have given the snake this name and then the Portuguese colonists picked it up from them. It's also quite possible that the Sinhalese and Tamil etymologies (both languages are spoken in Ceylon) are BOTH true, one reinforcing the other in Brazil, so that the ultimate word sounds like a word from both languages. Why didn't a word from one of the native languages stick? Mainly because there were about 300-400 different native languages spoken in Brazil and the settlers in southern Brazil would be exposed to languages that were completely unrelated to the languages in northern Brazil. There were just too many competing native names for the snake, so the Sinhalese/Tamil word would have been a good alternative. An additional factor is that the Portuguese held the native people of Brazil in utter contempt. Unlike the Spanish, the Portuguese never launched any significant missionary activity among the natives. To the Portuguese, the natives were there to exploit for slave labor only. As a result, there are few words that have been borrowed from native languages into Portuguese and many into Spanish and English. (Watch the film "The Mission" and you will see the difference between the Spanish and Portuguese attitudes toward the natives of South America.) Borrowing a word from Sinhalese/Tamil made much more sense to the Portuguese than using a native term (if they had ever even heard the native terms).

This type of borrowing happens. But because there were Sinhalese/Tamil speakers in Brazil with their Portuguese employers, it's not as far-fetched as it sounds initially.

Answer 2

Anaconda Origin

Answer 3

Anaconda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Anaconda (disambiguation).
Anaconda
Yellow Anaconda, Eunectes notaeus
Yellow Anaconda, Eunectes notaeus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Subfamily: Boinae
Genus: Eunectes
Wagler, 1830
Species

E. beniensis
E. deschauenseei
E. murinus
E. notaeus

Anacondas are four species of aquatic boa inhabiting the swamps and rivers of the dense forests of tropical South America. The Yellow Anaconda can be found as far south as northern Argentina.

There are two possible origins for the word 'anaconda.' It is perhaps an alteration of the Sinhalese word henakandaya, meaning 'whip snake', or alternatively, the Tamil word anaikondran, which means 'elephant killer'.[1] It is unclear how the name originated so far from the snake's native habitat; it is likely due to its vague similarity to the large Asian pythons. Local names for the anaconda in South America include the Spanish term matatoro, meaning 'bull killer', and the Native American terms sucuri and yakumama. Anacondas as members of the boa family are sometimes called water boas. The Latin name for Anaconda is Eunectes (from the Greek "Eυνήκτης", meaning "good swimmer").
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Answer 4

There are two possible origins for the word 'anaconda.' It is perhaps an alteration of the Sinhalese word henakandaya, meaning 'whip snake', or alternatively, the Tamil word anaikondran, which means 'elephant killer'. It is unclear how the name originated so far from the snake's native habitat; it is likely due to its vague similarity to the large Asian pythons. Local names for the anaconda in South America include the Spanish term matatoro, meaning 'bull killer', and the Native American terms sucuri and yakumama. Anacondas as members of the boa family are sometimes called water boas. The Latin name for Anaconda is Eunectes (from the Greek "Eυνήκτης", meaning "good swimmer").

Answer 5

It`s a very ugly snake.

There`s also a French cartoon with a girl named Angela Anaconda.

Answer 6

Ask Nicki Minaj!!

Answer 7

large snake