Where does “തേനീച്ച” come from?

തേനീച്ച (Malayalam) comes from Malayalam തേൻ, from Proto-Dravidian *tiy-am.

തേനീച്ച (Malayalam): honey bee; Any of the small insects in the genus Apis that collects nectar from flowers, often kept commercially for honey, beeswax and pollination of crops

Definitions

  1. honey bee; Any of the small insects in the genus Apis that collects nectar from flowers, often kept commercially for honey, beeswax and pollination of crops

Ancestry of “തേനീച്ച”, step by step

തേനീച്ച traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Malayalam തേൻ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malayalamതേൻhoney
2Proto-Dravidian*tiy-am—

via Malayalam ഈച്ച

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malayalamഈച്ചhousefly; Any fly commonly found in human habitations
2Proto-Dravidianīthis, this here

Words derived from “തേനീച്ച”

Every word from Proto-Dravidian *tiy-am →Every word from Malayalam തേൻ →