brahmin
See also: Brahmin
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French bramine, from obsolete Portuguese bramine, from Sanskrit ब्राह्मण (brā́hmaṇa); modern French brahmane, Portuguese brâmane are readjusted after Sanskrit. Doublet of Brahmana.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbɹɑːmɪn/
Noun
brahmin (plural brahmins)
- A member of the Hindu priestly caste, one of the four varnas or social groups based on occupation in ancient Hindu society.
- Synonym: brahmana
- One who has realized or attempts to realize Brahman, i.e. God or supreme knowledge.
- A scholar, teacher, priest, intellectual, researcher, scientist, knowledge-seeker, or knowledge worker.
- (chiefly US, capitalized) A member of a social and cultural elite, especially in the New England region of the USA.
- 1988 July 31, Jane O'Reilly, “Even Brahmins Get The Blues”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- Branching from the root of it all was New England Society. The original Nelson [W. Aldrich] became remembered as a patrician, a Brahmin.
- 2018, Zach Dorfman, “How to Kill a Presidential Scandal”, in Foreign Policy:
- In Iran-Contra, the independent counsel investigating the scandal, Lawrence Walsh, was a deadly serious Brahmin lawyer with a sterling Republican pedigree; he nevertheless faced withering criticism from members of his own party, just as special counsel Robert Mueller has as he investigates Trump and his circle.
- A learned person of refined taste and mild manners.
Related terms
Translations
caste
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Synonyms
- brahminic
- brahminical
Translations
of or relating to brahmins
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Romanian
Declension
Declension of brahmin
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