Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏛️ Elite New Englander 🕉️ A Hindu priest
brahmin

brahmin

9.5
A person from the highest Hindu caste who works as a priest or scholar
  • noun
  • /ˈbrɑːmɪn/
translation icon : brahmán
  • The teacher said, no brahmin worth his soul... will defile the language of Vedas.

Examples

  • The social network and hierarchy were more fixed (the phrase never appeared in the book, but I couldn't help but think Boston Brahmin), and the process of establishing trust and credibility was much slower than in California.

    Blog text (6)

  • How diabolical of you, old brahmin bandicoot.

    Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000)

  • Home rule is as much the birthright of a mahar as that of a brahmin.

    Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000)

  • He gloried in those things which Boston's "brahmins" mocked.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The Brahmin performed the ancient rituals with great reverence and precision.

  • In Hindu society, a Brahmin is traditionally respected as a scholar and priest.

  • During the festival, the Brahmin led the prayers and offered sacred food to the gods.

Synonyms

Brahmin
vsbrahmin
2 8.5

A member of the highest Hindu caste who traditionally serves as a priest or scholar

focuses on present status as priestly class rather than only historical roles
Brahman
vsbrahmin
1 8.1

A person from the highest group in Hindu society who is usually a priest or teacher

frames as the formal priestly class within the caste system

Surface Forms

brahmin singular
brahmins plural

Etymology

Brahmin comes from the Sanskrit word brāhmaṇa, which is linked to the god Brahma and to sacred knowledge, so it originally meant a 'priest' or scholar. That's why a brahmin is a member of the highest Hindu priestly caste.