Word of the day - Talapoin

Buddhist monk with talapat fan, from Mémoires de Siam

The word Talapoin (pl. Talapoins) is a word used in older literature in European languages when referring to a Buddhist monk.

Talapoin or in its various spelling variants (Talipois, Tallapoes, Talpooys, Talapoi, Talapoy, etc) came to most Europeans languages through the Portuguese word talapões (pl. talapão).

Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix, the 17th century French vicar apostolic of Eastern Siam during the reign of King Mongkut, in this Description du Royaume Thai ou Siam, wrote that:

"Les Européens les ont appelés talapoins, probablement du nom de l'éventail qu'ils tiennent à la main, lequel s'appelle talapat, qui signifie feuille de palmier"

Which translated as:

"The Europeans called them talapoins, probably from the name of the fan they carry in their hands, which is known as talapat, signifying palm leaf"

It is frequently cited that talapoin comes from the Thai word talapat or talipat (ตาลปัตร, dtaan-bpàt) , a kind of fan made of palm leaf used by Buddhist monks to hide their face when preaching or chanting before an audience.

However, the origin of the word is more likely found with the Peguan words tɔelaʔ pian (tīla puin) , literally the "Lord of Merit" (from Old Mon tirlaaʾ lord + Pali puñña merit [Sanskrit puṇya] ).

Talapoin is also a small, yellowish guenon monkey, Micropithecus (Cercopithecus) talapoin, found in western Africa.