brahmin

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Brah·min

(brä′mĭn)

1. also Brah·man (-mən) A member of the highest of the four major castes of traditional Indian society, responsible for officiating at religious rites and studying and teaching the Vedas.

2. A member of a cultural and social elite, especially of that formed by descendants of old New England families: a Boston Brahmin.

3. Variant of Brahman..

adj.

also Brahman (-mən) Of or relating to the caste of Brahmins.

[Probably alteration of Sanskrit brāhmaṇaḥ, from brāhmaṇa-, brahminic; see Brahman.]

Brah·min′ic (-mĭn′ĭk), Brah·min′i·cal adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Brahmin

(ˈbrɑːmɪn)

n, pl -min or -mins

1. (Hinduism) the older spelling of Brahman¹

2. (in the US) a highly intelligent or socially exclusive person, esp a member of one of the older New England families

3. an intellectual or social snob

Brahˈminic, Brahˈminical adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Brah•min

(ˈbrɑ mɪn)

n.

1. Brahman (def. 1).

2. (esp. in New England) a person from an upper–class family, esp. a family with considerable social and political power.

3. an intellectually or socially aloof person.

[1475–85; variant of Brahman]

Brah•min′ic, Brah•min′i•cal, adj.

Brahmin

A member of a class with high social and cultural standing, especially a member of one of the older New England families.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	brahmin - a member of a social and cultural elite (especially a descendant of an old New England family); "a Boston brahman" brahman aristocrat, blue blood, patrician - a member of the aristocracy
	2.	brahmin - a member of the highest of the four Hindu varnas; "originally all brahmans were priests" brahman brahman, brahmin - the highest of the four varnas: the priestly or sacerdotal category Hindoo, Hindu, Hindustani - a native or inhabitant of Hindustan or India smarta - one of a group of brahmans who uphold nonsectarian orthodoxy according to the Vedanta school of Hinduism
	3.	brahmin - the highest of the four varnas: the priestly or sacerdotal category brahman varna - (Hinduism) the name for the original social division of Vedic people into four groups (which are subdivided into thousands of jatis) brahman, brahmin - a member of the highest of the four Hindu varnas; "originally all brahmans were priests"
	4.	Brahmin - any of several breeds of Indian cattle; especially a large American heat and tick resistant greyish humped breed evolved in the Gulf States by interbreeding Indian cattle and now used chiefly for crossbreeding Bos indicus, Brahma, Brahman Bos, genus Bos - wild and domestic cattle; in some classifications placed in the subfamily Bovinae or tribe Bovini bovine - any of various members of the genus Bos zebu - domesticated ox having a humped back and long horns and a large dewlap; used chiefly as a draft animal in India and east Asia

Translations

brahmane

bramino

брамин

Brahmin

[ˈbrɑːmɪn] Brahman [ˈbrɑːmən] n → brahmane m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Brahmin

Brahman [ˈbrɑːmən] n → brahmano, bramino

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

He was a Brahmin, so high-caste that caste ceased to have any particular meaning for him; and his father had been an important official in the gay-coloured tag-rag and bobtail of an old-fashioned Hindu Court.

At last he went to England on a visit, and had to pay enormous sums to the priests when he came back; for even so high-caste a Brahmin as Purun Dass lost caste by crossing the black sea.

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This is certain, that some time before, he had used some poor pagan merchants in that manner, and had caused the executioner to begin to flay them, when some Brahmin, touched with compassion, generously contributed the sum demanded for their ransom.

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Passepartout, however, thinking no harm, went in like a simple tourist, and was soon lost in admiration of the splendid Brahmin ornamentation which everywhere met his eyes, when of a sudden he found himself sprawling on the sacred flagging.

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In the Hindu, Egyptian, or Romanesque architecture, one feels the priest, nothing but the priest, whether he calls himself Brahmin, Magian, or Pope.

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If I was locked up in a fireproof chest vith a patent Brahmin, she'd find means to get at me, Sammy.'

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As the son of an East India merchant and the son-in-law of Ralph Waldo Emerson, he was a Bostonian of the Brahmin caste.

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The family priest, an old, tolerant Sarsut Brahmin, dropped in later, and naturally started a theological argument to impress the family.

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The priestcraft of the East and West, of the Magian, Brahmin, Druid, and Inca, is expounded in the individual's private life.

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Preserved by three Brahmins, the inviolate deity, bearing the Yellow Diamond in its forehead, was removed by night, and was transported to the second of the sacred cities of India-- the city of Benares.

Here, on the night when the shrine was completed, Vishnu the Preserver appeared to the three Brahmins in a dream.

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The Brahmins maintain that in the almost endless sculptures of that immemorial pagoda, all the trades and pursuits, every conceivable avocation of man, were prefigured ages before any of them actually came into being.