coolie

Meaning

1. An unskilled Asian worker, usually of Chinese or Indian descent; a labourer; a porter. Coolies were frequently transported to other countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries as indentured labourers.
2. (Caribbean, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad-and-Tobago, ethnic, slur) An Indian or a person of Indian descent.

Synonyms

laborer

carrier

cooly

porter

workman

labourer

unskilled worker

worker

servant

unskilled laborer

living by day-labour

construction worker

👷

craftsman

toil

toiler

hired labourer

manual laborer

palanquin bearer

wandering robber

Translations

Kuli

coolie

koelie

cúli

cole

culi

köle

cule

Arbeiter

Karibische Inseln

αχθοφόρος

الحمال

κούλης

manœuvre

travailleur manuel

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkuːli/

Etymology

Cognate with Bangla: কুলি

Cognate with Tamil: கூலி

Cognate with Mandarin Chinese: 苦力

In summary

From Hindustani क़ुली / قلی (qulī, “hired laborer”), possibly from Ottoman Turkish قول (kul, “servant”). Another theory says that it is named after Gujarati કોળી (koḷī), a Gujarati tribe or caste. Other forms occur in Bengali কুলি (kuli) and Tamil கூலி (kūli, “daily hire”). Possibly also influenced by Hindustani کولی (kolī) / कोली (kolī, “weaver; low-class”). In Kurdish Koile (کۆیلە) and Quli (قولى): Slave, Servant. Kawli (Keweli): Low-Class, Gypsy.
Mandarin 苦力 (kǔlì, “hard labor”) may have been influenced by cognates of the above Hindi word in other languages and may have further influenced English.