Adding Etymology (origin of words) to Olam

Dictionaries ഓളം (Olam)
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This is one of the topic discussed during Unconference session at Kozhikode on November 1st, 2025.

Inviting your ideas/discussions!

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Note:
Creating a highly reliable etymology database (with morphology and agglutination from simpler original morphemes) for Malayalam can be challenging. There exists lots of corrupted references which are assumed to be authentic by practicing linguists. We can not assure that their interpretations are correct including even that of ശ്രീകണ്ഠേശ്വരം.

So this will be one of the most labor-intensive project we may undertake in the long run. We may need deep discussions and vetting in many cases especially for some of the guestwords.
As of now, in my opinion, the most authentic sources are

  1. A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary by T. Burrow and M.B. Emeneau (published in 1961),
  2. Gundert 1872
  3. AMN 1977 by C. Madhavan Pillai. (അഭിനവ മലയാള നിഘണ്ടു) DC Books 1977
  4. Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary 1872 or 1899
  5. Etymologyonline.com