The biggest Tamil dictionary most Chennai readers will ever consult was made in this city. The University of Madras began the Tamil Lexicon in 1913, published it in six volumes between 1924 and 1936 and added a supplement in 1939. It runs to about 4,500 pages and 1,24,405 headwords, according to Lexicographic Practice in Tamil, a study hosted on the state’s Tamil Digital Library. You do not need to visit a library to use it: the full text is searchable free online.
Here is how the Lexicon came about, who edited it, what is in it and the easiest ways to look up a word today.
How a Madras dictionary took 26 years
The project was approved and sponsored by the government of the day and began in 1913, the same study says. Five editors led it in turn until 1939: J. S. Chandler, S. Anavaratavinayagam Pillai, C. P. Venkatarama Aiyar, P. S. Subramania Sastri and S. Vaiyapuri Pillai.
Chandler, an American missionary born in Madurai in 1849, was the first editor, serving from 1913 to 1922 and also chairing the university’s Tamil Lexicon Committee, according to Who Was Who in Indology. He died in Kodaikanal in 1934, before the work was finished.
The last stretch was the supplement. Its preface explains that about 20,000 words were collected too late to go into the main volumes. The university Syndicate set up an advisory committee on 25 February 1936, editing started in January 1937, and the three parts came out between July 1938 and December 1939. Vaiyapuri Pillai was editor, with V. Narayana Aiyar as assistant editor and M. Raghava Aiyangar as chief pandit. The preface is dated Madras, 29 December 1939.
What sets it apart from older dictionaries
Tamil had dictionaries long before 1913. The History of Tamil Lexicography lists Father Beschi’s Chathur Akarathi of 1732, the Tamil-English dictionary of Fabricius and Breithaupt printed at Vepery, Madras, in 1779, and Winslow’s Tamil-English dictionary of 1862. Beschi’s work is described there as the pioneer of Tamil-Tamil dictionaries.
Each of these was a landmark, but each was the work of one compiler or a small team. The Lexicon was an institutional project, run by a university committee with paid editors and pandits over a quarter of a century. It went further in scale and method. Entries give the word in Tamil script and roman transliteration, its grammatical category, meanings in both Tamil and English and, in many cases, a reference to the literary source where the usage appears. That is why researchers, translators and crossword setters still reach for it a century later.
How the volumes are arranged
The scanned edition hosted at the University of Cologne divides the work into seven parts, following Tamil alphabetical order:
- Volume 1: words beginning with அ (a)
- Volume 2: க (ka)
- Volume 3: ச (ca)
- Volume 4: from தீ (tī)
- Volume 5: from பா (pā)
- Volume 6: from முல் (mul) to the end
- Volume 7: Supplement
Sources differ slightly on dates. The Chicago catalogue gives 1924-1936 for the main volumes, the indology database says printing ran to 1939 (counting the supplement), and the lexicography history says 1923 to 1936. The supplement’s own preface settles its date at 1939.
How to look up a word today
- DSAL search (free): The University of Chicago’s Digital Dictionaries of South Asia lets you type a word in Tamil script or roman letters. You can search only headwords, or look for words that begin with, end with or contain your term, or match it exactly. A Unicode font is needed to see the diacritics properly.
- Scanned pages: The Cologne site and the Tamil Digital Library at tamildigitallibrary.in hold page images, which help when you want to see the original layout or cite a page number.
- Print copies: Reference libraries in Chennai, including the University of Madras library at Chepauk, hold the printed set. Call ahead to check access rules for non-members.
The Lexicon is not the only big Tamil dictionary project. Tamil University in Thanjavur is compiling a Greater Tamil Lexicon that also draws on inscriptions, dialects and usage in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Mauritius. It has published six volumes so far, four covering the vowels அ to ஔ and two covering consonants from க.
A tip for citing: give the volume and page number from the printed edition, which the scanned copies preserve, rather than an online search link that may change.
Quick answers
Who published the Tamil Lexicon?
The University of Madras, with the work starting in 1913.
How many words are in it?
About 1,24,405 headwords across six volumes and a supplement, roughly 4,500 pages.
Can I search it free online?
Yes, through the University of Chicago’s DSAL site, in Tamil script or roman letters.
Who was its first editor?
J. S. Chandler, from 1913 to 1922.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras: online search (Digital Dictionaries of South Asia, University of Chicago)
- Tamil Lexicon Supplement, front matter and preface, 1939 (University of Madras, via DSAL)
- Lexicographic Practice in Tamil (via Tamil Digital Library, Tamil Virtual Academy)
- History of Tamil Lexicography (via Tamil Digital Library, Tamil Virtual Academy)
- Chandler, John Scudder (Who Was Who in Indology)
- Greater Tamil Lexicon (Tamil University, Thanjavur)
