pariah

pariah
—pariahdom, n. —pariahism, n.
/peuh ruy"euh/, n.
1. an outcast.
2. any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided.
3. (cap.) a member of a low caste in southern India and Burma.
[1605-15; < Tamil paraiyar, pl. of PARAIYAN lit., drummer (from a hereditary duty of the caste), deriv. of parai a festival drum]

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▪ Indian caste system
      member of a low-caste group of Hindu India, formerly known as “untouchables” but renamed by the Indian social reformer Mahatma Gandhi as Harijans (children of the god Hari Viṣṇu, or, simply, children of God). The word pariah—originally derived from Tamil paṛaiyar, “drummer”—once referred to the Paraiyan, a Tamil caste group of labourers and village servants of low status, but the meaning was extended to embrace many groups outside the so-called clean caste groups, with widely varying degrees of status. See also untouchable.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Pariah — Pa ri*ah, n. [From Tamil paraiyan, pl. paraiyar, one of the low caste, fr. parai a large drum, because they beat the drums at certain festivals.] [1913 Webster] 1. One of an aboriginal people of Southern India, regarded by the four castes of the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pariah — [pə rī′ə; ] Brit also [ par′ē ə] n. [Tamil paṛaiyan, drummer < paṛai, a drum: the pariah was a hereditary drumbeater] 1. a member of one of the lowest social castes in India 2. any person despised or rejected by others; outcast …   English World dictionary

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  • pariah — (n.) 1610s, from Port. paria or directly from Tamil paraiyar, plural of paraiyan drummer (at festivals, the hereditary duty of members of the largest of the lower castes of southern India), from parai large festival drum. Especially numerous at… …   Etymology dictionary

  • pariah — *outcast, castaway, derelict, reprobate, untouchable …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • pariah — meaning ‘a social outcast’, is pronounced pǝ riy ǝ to rhyme with Isaiah …   Modern English usage

  • pariah — [n] social outcast bum*, castaway, deportee, derelict, displaced person, exile, expatriate, fugitive, hobo*, leper, outsider, persona non grata*, rascal, refugee, tramp, undesirable, vagabond, vagrant, waif; concept 423 …   New thesaurus

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