coolieyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[coolie 词源字典]
coolie: [17] Coolie is not etymologically related to cool. It comes from Hindi kulī, which may be the same word as Kulī, the name of an aboriginal tribe of Gujarat in western India. It has been speculated that the word was transported by the Portuguese from there to southern India and thence to China (it is now mainly applied to Far Eastern labourers), its meaning perhaps influenced by Tamil kūli ‘hire’.
[coolie etymology, coolie origin, 英语词源]
coolie (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
name given by Europeans to hired laborers in India and China, c. 1600, from Hindi quli "hired servant," probably from kuli, name of an aboriginal tribe or caste in Gujarat. The name was picked up by the Portuguese, who used it in southern India (where by coincidence kuli in Tamil meant "hire") and in China.