chetty

== English == === Etymology === Ultimately from Sanskrit श्रेष्ठ (śreṣṭha) or श्रेष्ठीन् (śreṣṭhīn). === Noun === chetty (plural chetties) A member of one of various South Indian castes of merchants, money-lenders and land-owners. 2000, Laure Adler, Marguerite Duras: A Life, translated by Anne-Marie Glasheen, London: Victor Gollancz, Chapter 3, p. 58, [4] […] Marguerite's mother was earning 22,000 francs a month. A quarter of that went to the owner of the Saigon boarding house; another quarter to Pierre's tutor in France and a third went to the chetties to pay off loans made for the concession. ==== Alternative forms ==== chitty ==== Translations ==== === Anagrams === tetchy