From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary EnglishSinhaleseSin‧ha‧lese /ˌsɪnhəˈliːz◂/ noun (plural Sinhalese) 1 [countable]SAN someone who belongs to the race of people that forms the largest part of the population in Sri Lanka2 [uncountable]SLL the language used by the Sinhalese —Sinhalese adjective
Examples from the Corpus
Sinhalese• In the worst recorded incident over 200 Sinhalese were killed in the vicinity of Hambantota on Dec. 20.• Campbell was aware of the disadvantages of having so few Sinhalese in the police, especially in higher posts.• Despite the Hinduism of most Tamils and the Buddhism of most Sinhalese, they coexisted for those two millennia without much hostility.• The supernatural beings of the Sinhalese could be manipulated by humans soas to influence events, but their ethical position was ambiguous.• About nine percent of the Sinhalese were Christians.• The three major groups were the Sinhalese, Tamils and Moors.• The Sinhalese were however generally unwilling to work as labourers on large estates.Origin Sinhalese (1700-1800) Sanskrit Simhala “Sri Lanka” 