mali
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmɑːli/
ipa: /ˈmɑli/
ipa: /ˈmæ-/
rhymes: -ɑːli
rhymes: -æli
Forms: form: malis
form: mallee
form: molly
form: malley
Etymology: Borrowed from Hindi माली (mālī, “gardener”), from Sanskrit माली (mālī, “wreath-maker, garland-maker; florist; gardener”), मालिन् (mālin, “florist; gardener”), from माला (mālā, “wreath, garland; chaplet, crown”).
Senses: examples: text: [H]ence the slow progress hitherto made in the cultivation of such produce of the garden as is generally held in estimation by the European portion of the community, left as it generally is, to the simple Hindoo mallee (or gardener,) it is not to be wondered at, that our bazars want what are deemed the more delicate articles of vegetable production for the table; […]
ref: 1840, G. T. Frederic Speede, Indian Hand-book of Gardening; Containing Directions for the Management of the Kitchen and Flower Garden, etc. etc. in India: […], Calcutta: W. Thacker & Co. St. Andrew's Library, →OCLC, page 1:
text: Prizes were awarded to ten other mallees for best samples of vegetables, fruits and flowers, and last though not least we have to note, that a prize of two rupees was awarded to the mallee of Robert Fulton, Esq., of Sultangunge, for a remarkably fine bunch of grapes, clearly showing that either the soil of Mr. Fulton's garden, the climate of Sultangunge, or the skill of that gentleman's gardener, are highly favorable to the growth, and bringing to maturity of this delicious fruit.
ref: 1848, “Report of Exhibitions of Vegetables, Fruits, Flowers and Agricultural Produce, Held at Bhaugulpore, on 11th February and 25th May, 1848. (Communicated by Major [T. E. A.] Napleton, Honorary Secretary Branch Agri-Horticultural Society.)”, in Journal of the Agricultural & Horticultural Society of India, volumes VI, part II (Correspondence and Selections), number 3, Calcutta: Bishop's College Press, →OCLC, page 125:
text: I sent down dhobies, sweepers, cooks, and mallees, last to dig trenches for burying the dead, when burning was not possible.
ref: 1871 November 29, “Cachar: Further Correspondence on the Subject of the Looshai Raids and the Consequent Hostilities (in Continuation of Paper, No. 398, of 1871)”, in Accounts and Papers: […], volumes X (East India—continued), [London]: […] The House of Commons, […], published 28 May 1872, →OCLC, page 301:
text: He found, as he expected, that the poor girl was crying. And, as always, an Indian close outside the window, a mali in this case, picking up sounds.
ref: 1924 June 4, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter XXII, in A Passage to India, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC, part II (Caves), page 203:
text: A nearly naked mali, watering-can in hand, was moving in the jungle of flowers like some large nectar-sucking bird.
ref: 1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC; republished as chapter 2, in Burmese Days (ebook no. 0200051h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, November 2015:
text: The grounds of the estates were extensive enough to provide each mansion with a surrounding park, and these were, if anything, even more varied in design than the houses they enclosed – for the malis who tended the gardens, no less than the owners themselves, vied to outdo each other in the fancifulness of their plantings, creating here a little patch of topiary and there an avenue of trees, trimmed in the French fashion; […]
ref: 2008, Amitav Ghosh, chapter 5, in Sea of Poppies, London: John Murray, →ISBN, pages 91–92:
glosses: A member of a caste in South Asia whose traditional occupation is gardening; hence, any South Asian gardener.