泰米尔语（தமிழ்；IPA /tæmɪɻ/）是一种有超过二千年历史的语言，属于达罗毗荼语系，通行于印度南部、斯里兰卡东北部。它是泰米尔纳德邦和本地治里的官方语言。在印度洋及南太平洋不少印度裔居民也是说泰米尔语的，他们散布于马达加斯加、毛里求斯、斐济等地。根据统计，在1996年，泰米尔语在全球的语言人口中排第18位，有语言人口7400万人。

坦米尔语这个名称相信来自梵文“Dravida”（达罗毗荼）的读音变化。泰米尔语有超过2000年的文学传统，而不同于欧洲的拉丁文和罗曼语族，这个传统一直没有断过。犹如中文的文言文一样，至今古泰米尔文还在日常生活中继续被使用。例如，泰米尔小学生一直到现在还用1世纪的字母韵文 átticúdi 来学字母。

Tamil /ˈtæmɪl/ (தமிழ், tamiḻ, [t̪ɐmɨɻ] ) is a Dravidian language predominantly spoken by the Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka, and also by the Tamil diaspora. Tamil is an official language of two countries, Singapore and Sri Lanka. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry. It is also used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin. In India, outside of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Tamil is also spoken in the states of Kerala, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a secondary language, and by minorities in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. It was the first Indian language to be declared as a classical language, which the Government of India did in 2004.