muṟam
Eva
Wilden
Tamilex project.
noun
[type of?] winnowing fan
muṟam cevi yāṉait
elephant with ears [like] winnowing fans
[ 376, line 1](https://uhh-tamilex.github.io/Narrinai/NA376.xml?highlight=%5Bid%3DNA376%5D%20.l%3Anth-of-type(1))
muṟam cevi maṟaip pāypu muraṇ ceyta puli ceṟṟu
[the elephant] killing the tiger that has committed hostility by stealthily leaping for [its] ears
[ 52, line 1](https://uhh-tamilex.github.io/Kalittokai/Kali052.xml?highlight=%5Bid%3DKali52%5D%20.l%3Anth-of-type(1))
[ 1.131.7.3f.](https://www.ifpindia.org/digitaldb/site/digital_tevaram/U_TEV/DM1_131.HTM#p7)
eḻil kuṟavar ciṟumimārkaḷ | muṟaṅkaḷiṉāl koḻittu maṇi cela muttu pulaip pey
where the graceful little girls of the hill people sift with winnowing fans
so that the gems go out [and] pour the pearls [as paddy] into [their play] mortars
All six early occurrences, including those from the two oldest Peruṅkāppiyam-s, form part of a miniature formulaic system that describe the ears of an elephant – the quoted passage breaks up the formula and relegates the missing yāṉai to the end of line 4. It is only the passage that allows a more direct understanding of what the object is used for. Of course modern dictionaries distinguish cuḷaku and muṟam both by form and by size, but from the available attestations one may wonder whether cuḷaku was used as a piece of kitchen equipment in food production while muṟam served other extended household purposes.
Unlike cuḷaku, muṟam is glossed by an early commentator, namely as cuḷaku (p.u. on 10.247).
[Tivākaram 1.95](https://uhh-tamilex.github.io/Tivakaram/Tiv1.xml?highlight=[id%3D'Tiv1.95'] .l%3Anth-of-type(1))vicākam1972 [1779]Tamil and English Dictionary (Fabricius)[p. 814](https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/fabricius_query.py?page=814)1862A comprehensive Tamil and English dictionary (Winslow)[p. 885](https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/winslow_query.py?page=885)1928 [1902]Tamiḻmoḻiyakarāti (Katiraivēṟ Piḷḷai)[p. 1179](https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/kadirvelu_query.py?page=1179)[p. 1483](https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/kadirvelu_query.py?page=1483)[p. 1661](https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/kadirvelu_query.py?page=1661)1924–1936Tamil Lexicon (University of Madras)[p. 3296](https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/tamil-lex_query.py?page=3296)1992Kriyāviṉ taṟkālat Tamiḻ akarāti[p. 850](https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/crea_query.py?page=850)
[Digital Tēvāram 162.101](https://www.ifpindia.org/digitaldb/site/digital_tevaram/U_TEV/CT-MU_03.HTM#:~:text=k%C5%ABkai%20muralum%20c%C5%8Dlai-,mu%E1%B9%9Fa%E1%B9%85ka%E1%B8%B7i%E1%B9%89%C4%81l,-%3A%201)
[Aṭiyārkkunallār on 10.247](https://archive.org/details/cilappatikaram/page/285/mode/1up)
muṟam pōlum ceviyaiyuṭaiya yāṉai
elephant with ears like winnowing fans
[ ad 42.2](https://archive.org/details/gc-sh5-0112/page/n176/mode/1up)
muṟam pōlum ceviyaiyuṭaiya yāṉai
[ ad 52.1+4d](https://archive.org/details/gc-sh5-0112/page/n205/mode/1up)
muṟam pōlum ceviyaiyākiya maṟaippiṭamākiya vantu pāyntu māṟupāṭu ceyta puliyaik kōppittu... puliyiṉatu marumattait tiṟantu māṟupāṭu tīrnta aḻakiṉaiyuṭaiya yāṉai