Veddoid

[ ved-oid ]

noun

1. a member of an ancient people of southern and southeastern Asia and northern Australia.

adjective

1. of or relating to Veddoids.

Veddoid

/ ˈvɛdɔɪd /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling the Vedda

noun

1. a Vedda
2. a member of a postulated prehistoric race of S Asia, having slender build, dark complexion, and wavy hair: thought to be ancestors of the Vedda

Word History and Origins

Origin of Veddoid¹

First recorded in 1945–50; Vedd(a) + -oid

Example Sentences

Just three relict groups of hunter-gatherers—the Semang Negritos of the Malay Peninsula, the Andaman Islanders, and the Veddoid Negritos of Sri Lanka—remain to suggest that tropical Southeast Asia’s former inhabitants may have been dark-skinned and curly-haired, like modern New Guineans and unlike the light-skinned, straight-haired South Chinese and the modern tropical Southeast Asians who are their offshoots.

From Literature