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pariahdom

 - 3 dictionary results

pa⋅ri⋅ah

  [puh-rahy-uh]
–noun
1. an outcast.
2. any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided.
3. (initial capital letter) a member of a low caste in southern India and Burma.
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Origin:
1605–15; < Tamil paṟaiyar, pl. of paṟaiyan lit., drummer (from a hereditary duty of the caste), deriv. of paṟai a festival drum

Related forms:
pa⋅ri⋅ah⋅dom, noun
pa⋅ri⋅ah⋅ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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Cultural Dictionary

pariah [(puh-reye-uh)]

An outcast; a member of a low caste or class.

Note: The word originally stems from the caste system of India, which put pariahs in a very low place in society. In the United States, it refers to those of low social class or social status.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pariah 
1613, from Port. paria or directly from Tamil paraiyar, pl. 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 Madras, where its members supplied most of the domestics in European service. Applied by Hindus and Europeans to members of any low Hindu caste and even to outcastes. Extended meaning "social outcast" is first attested 1819.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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