Brahmin

Brahmin
Brahminic /brah min"ik/, Brahminical, adj.
/brah"min/, n., pl. Brahmin, Brahmins, adj.
n.
1. Hinduism. Brahman (def. 1).
2. (esp. in New England) a person usually from an old, respected family who, because of wealth and social position, wields considerable social, economic, and political power.
3. a person who is intellectually or socially aloof.
adj.
4. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a Brahmin: the Brahmin attitudes of a true aristocrat.
[1475-85; var. of BRAHMAN]

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      member of any of several old, socially exclusive New England families of aristocratic and cultural pretensions, from which came some of the most distinguished American men of letters of the 19th century. Originally a humorous reference to the Brahmans, the highest caste of Hindu society, the term came to be applied to a number of prominent New England writers, including Oliver Wendell Holmes (Holmes, Oliver Wendell), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth), and James Russell Lowell (Lowell, James Russell). All three were educated in Europe and became associated with Harvard University.

      Assuming the role of arbiters of literary taste, they made Boston the literary capital of America in their day. Though they espoused democratic ideals, they remained aesthetically conservative. In an age that brought forth the masterpieces of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, and Mark Twain, they advocated a genteel, rational humanism, quite out of step with their brilliant contemporaries. Nevertheless, the Brahmins exerted the main influence on American literary taste until the 1890s.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • brahmín — (del ár. «barahman», del persa «barahman», y éste del sánscrito «bráhman», cuerpo de teólogos) m. Brahmán. * * * brahmín. m. brahmán. * * * ► masculino Brahmán …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • brahmin — BRAHMÍN s.m. Brahman. [< fr. brahmine]. Trimis de LauraGellner, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DN …   Dicționar Român

  • brahmin — (n.) member of Boston s upper class, 1823, figurative use of Brahman member of the highest priestly Hindu caste, late 15c., from Skt. brahmana s, from brahman prayer, also the universal soul, the Absolute, of uncertain origin. Related to BRAHMA… …   Etymology dictionary

  • brahmin — bràhmīn (bràmīn) m <G brahmína> DEFINICIJA v. brahman (2) ETIMOLOGIJA vidi brahman …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • brahmín — m. brahmán …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • Brahmin — [brä′min] n. 1. a BRAHMAN (sense 2) 2. a cultured person from a long established upper class family, esp. of New England, regarded as haughty or conservative Brahminic [brä min′ik, brəmin′ik] adj. Brahminical …   English World dictionary

  • Brahmin — This article is about the social caste. For the moth family, see Brahmaeidae. For similarly spelled words, see Brahman (disambiguation). An article related to Hinduism …   Wikipedia

  • Brahmin — (Brahman)    A Brahmin is a member of the hereditary priestly class of India. The term is derived from the Vedic word BRAHMAN, which means (among other things) “prayer.” In Sanskrit the same Vedic word desig nates prayer and the one who prays,… …   Encyclopedia of Hinduism

  • Brahmin — Brahman Brah man, Brahmin Brah min, n.; pl. {Brahmans}, {Brahmins}. [Skr. Br[=a]hmana (cf. Brahman worship, holiness; the God Brahma, also Brahman): cf. F. Brahmane, Brachmane, Bramine, L. Brachmanae, manes, mani, pl., Gr. ?, pl.] 1. A person of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Brahmin — UK / US [ˈbrɑmɪn] noun [countable] Word forms Brahmin : singular Brahmin plural Brahmins American in parts of the Eastern US, a rich and socially important person See: Brahman …   English dictionary

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