Telugu Definition & Meaning

American

British

Usage

Examples

Telugu American [tel-uh-goo] / ˈtɛl əˌgu /

noun

plural

Telugus,

plural

Telugu

1. a Dravidian language spoken mainly in Andhra Pradesh state, SE India.

2. a member of the people speaking this language.

adjective

1. of Telugu or the Telugu.

Telugu British / ˈtɛləˌɡuː /

noun

1. a language of SE India, belonging to the Dravidian family of languages: the state language of Andhra Pradesh

2. a member of the people who speak this language

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

1. of or relating to this people or their language

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What does Telugu mean? Telugu is a Dravidian language spoken mainly in the state of Andhra Pradesh in southeastern India.Telugu also refers to the speakers of this language.India is a large country located in southern Asia, and Andhra Pradesh is one of its 25 states. The Dravidian family of languages includes many of the languages spoken in Southern India and the country of Sri Lanka, including Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.According to the 2011 Census of India, there were over 81 million speakers of Telugu. At that time, it was the fourth most popular language in India, with 6.7 percent of the population speaking it. Telugu is the official language of the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.Spoken Telugu has several different regional dialects, which depend on a person’s geographic area, class, and caste. Written Telugu is more uniform and, like other Dravidian languages, is based on the Brahmi script rather than ancient Sanskrit.Telugu is written from left to right, and its alphabet currently consists of 60 symbols, including 16 vowels and 41 consonants.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Overnight, Singh became Bollywood's most relateable voice, recording across many languages - Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu - and sometimes singing multiple songs in a single film.

From BBC

Officials told BBC Telugu that a team of firefighters was the first to go inside on Sunday.

From BBC

Hindi, Tamil and Telugu speakers grew in number, and Indian-American communities shifted from New York and Michigan to larger clusters in California and New Jersey.

From BBC

Police in India have arrested popular Telugu actor Allu Arjun in connection with a crush at the premiere of his latest film earlier this month.

From BBC

In Telangana, pressure has grown on the government to publish a report on the Telugu film industry that’s been waiting to see the light of the day for two years.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.