Tindal
name, noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A petty officer among lascars; a boatswain's mate; a cockswain. India, dated
"One thing that continued unchanged was the division of the crew into two watches, each led by a tindal."
- 2 An attendant on an army. India, dated
"The party left the island about four o clock in the afternoon, and after a pleasant passage of three hours, arrived at the Jaffna Customs, where a most untoward event took place which tended greatly to mar the pleasure of the day: the unfortunate wag of a tindal not having brought a boat-note with him, the tide-waiters at the Custom-house detained all the oysters belonging to the party, which were immediately removed to the Custom-house and kept there under lock and key, pending the decision of the acting Controller of Customs!"
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"One thing that continued unchanged was the division of the crew into two watches, each led by a tindal."
Etymology
From Malayalam തണ്ടല് (taṇṭal) or Telugu తండేలు (taṇḍēlu), ultimately from Proto-Dravidian *tanḍal-.
Variant of Tynedale.
Related phrases
More for "tindal"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.