List of Sinhala words of Portuguese origin

In addition to influences on language, the Portuguese introduced the Catholic religion to Sri Lanka, various forms of western clothing and also contributed to the formation of Baila, a Sri Lankan form of music.

The words pertaining to the fields of commerce, administration, botany, food and military are the most numerous; this is to be expected because of many new innovations and goods that reached Sri Lanka via the Portuguese.

However it is important to note that the range of borrowings goes beyond the scope to be expected for a situation where two neighbouring peoples exchange material goods: There are many Portuguese loanwords pertaining to everyday and social life (kinship terms, ordinary activities etc.).

Additionally, many lexical words (nouns, adjectives and verbs) have also been borrowed.

Portuguese loanwords in Sinhala rarely appear in the same form as the original word, the vast majority of them having undergone naturalisation.