pariah

pariah
\ \ [17] Now a general term for an ‘outcast’, pariah came into English from the caste system of southern India. It originally denoted a member of the largest of the lower castes, which was named in Tamil paraiyan. This meant literally ‘drummer’ (it was a derivative of parailarge festival drum’), a reference to the hereditary role of the paraiyar (plural) as drummers in festival parades.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Pariah — Pariah, (Tamil language) or Paraya in Malayalam, is the name of the Pariah caste of Indian Hindu society. The word has gained widespread use as an analogy, especially in the phrases social pariah and pariah nation or pariah state , as a term for… …   Wikipedia

  • Pariah — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Pariah (el alias de Kell Mossa) es un personaje ficticio del Universo DC. Origen En 1985, durante la serie limitada de 12 números Crisis en Tierras Infinitas, Pariah fue uno de los mayores científicos de su versión… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Pariah — Entwickler …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 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

  • pariah — I noun castaway, deportee, derelict, exile, expatriate, fugitive, heretic, offender, outcast, outlaw, outsider, proscribed person, rebel, renegade, scab, sectarist, sectary, tergiversator II index derelict Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C.… …   Law dictionary

  • Pariah — Pariah, i Indien en betegnelse for personer som regnes for lavere end nogen anden kaste …   Danske encyklopædi

  • 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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