Pariah Definition Meaning
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(redirected from pariahs)What does pariah mean? Pariah is defined by the lexicographers at Oxford Dictionaries as An outcast., A member of a low caste in southern India. The scruffs chapter 12 video.
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pa·ri·ah
(pə-rī′ə)n.1. A social outcast: 'Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village, Huckleberry Finn, son of the town drunkard'(Mark Twain).
[From Tamil paṟaiyan, member of a Dalit group of southern India traditionally performing as drummers and performing other tasks considered unclean (from paṛai, festival drum) and its Malayalam equivalent, paṟayan (from paṛa, festival drum).]
Word History: Pariah comes from Tamil paṟaiyan and its Malayalam equivalent paṟayan, words that refer to a member of a Dalit group of southern India and Sri Lanka that had very low status in the traditional caste system of India. (The plural of the Tamil word paṟaiyan is paṟaiyar. The symbol ṟ in this Tamil word transliterates a letter pronounced as an alveolar trill in some dialects of Tamil, while it transliterates a letter pronounced as an alveolar liquid in Malayalam.) Because of their low status, the paṟaiyar found work performing undesirable tasks considered ritually impure by members of the higher castes, such as disposing of the corpses of dead cattle and performing music and carrying out other functions at funerals. The term paṟaiyar is derived from paṟai (in Malayalam, paṟa), a name of a kind of drum played as part of certain festivals and ceremonies. Players of this drum have traditionally been drawn from the paṟaiyar group. The word pariah begins to appear in English in travelers' accounts of Indian society and at first refers specifically to the low-status paṟaiyar. One such occurrence of the word dates from as early as 1613. As British colonial power began to expand in India, however, the British began to use the word pariah in a general sense for any Indian person considered an outcaste or simply of low caste in the traditional Indian caste system. By the 1800s, pariah had come to be used of any person who is despised, reviled, or shunned.
pariah
(pəˈraɪə; ˈpærɪə) n2. (Sociology) (formerly) a member of a low caste in S India
[C17: from Tamil paraiyan drummer, from parai drum; so called because members of the caste were the drummers at festivals]
pa•ri•ah
(pəˈraɪ ə)n.
2. any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided.
[1605–15; < Tamil paṟaiyar, pl. of paṟaiyan member of a low caste in S India, literally, drummer (from a hereditary duty of the caste), derivative of paṟai a festival drum]
pariah
A person regarded as being an outcast from society.
| Noun | 1. | pariah - a person who is rejected (from society or home) castaway, outcast, Ishmael unfortunate, unfortunate person - a person who suffers misfortune heretic, misbeliever, religious outcast - a person who holds religious beliefs in conflict with the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church Harijan, untouchable - belongs to lowest social and ritual class in India |
pariah
nounoutcast, exile, outlaw, undesirable, untouchable, leper, unpersonI was treated like a pariah for the rest of the journey.
vyděděnec
pária
izstumtaispārijs
toplum dışına itilmiş kimse
pariah
[ˈpærɪə]N → pariamfpariah
pariah
[pəˈraɪə]n (frm) → pariam invpariah
(pəˈraiə) noun a person driven out of a group or community; an outcast. Because of his political beliefs he became a pariah in the district. verworpene مَنْبوذ парий pária vyděděnec der/die Ausgestoßene paria; udskud παρίαςparia heidik آدم طرد شده hylkiö paria מְנוּדֶה अछूत, चाण्डाल skitnica pária orang buangan úrhrak paria のけ者 왕따, 추방자 parijas pārijs; izstumtais paria verstotelingparia parias رټلی نامعلوس ( په هنداوبرماکښی pária paria пария vydedenec izobčenec odbačen čovek paria คนนอกคอก toplum dışına itilmiş kimse 為社會所遺棄者，流浪者 парія اچھوت người hạ đẳng 为社会所遗弃者，流浪者
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noun
1An outcast.
- ‘They have since been treated as the pariahs of the political establishment.’
- ‘Now, six decades later, smokers have become the social pariahs: excluded, if not frowned upon, by contemporary behavioral codes and even municipal law.’
- ‘Traveling alone (especially for women) is seen as sad and desperate, a cardinal sin, reserved for those social pariahs who talk to their cats.’
- ‘So everyone - or nearly everyone - makes sure to bring someone along as a security blanket, so they don't look like social pariahs.’
- ‘Billboards are also telling people to give up now before they become social pariahs on March 29, the day the prohibition comes into effect.’
- ‘Advocates are most unlikely to tell the public who will be worse off, except when they are trying to make political pariahs of the sufferers.’
- ‘Irish smokers now have until April, it is thought, to kick the habit or be forced to become social pariahs when they want to light up.’
- ‘Australians do not, I am sure, actively desire to be international pariahs.’
- ‘That's a pretty large segment of the population to reduce to the status of political pariahs.’
- ‘He was a pariah in the international community.’
- ‘Such extreme views, however, have not made him a social pariah.’
- ‘By today's standards, the Roman Empire would be an international pariah.’
- ‘So now I'm not only a big fatty, I'm also a social pariah, am I?’
- ‘There's no end to the advantages of being an international pariah.’
- ‘Spring allergies will be mistaken for deathly disease and your runny nose will make you a social pariah.’
- ‘Racist jokes that would make one a social pariah in the United States are told boldly on television.’
- ‘Eventually, she turned her back on society, becoming the social pariah that she is now.’
- ‘The regime should be treated as a pariah, not just as a hostile but recognizable political competitor.’
- ‘A few dozen of these political pariahs found employment, mostly in second-rate TV offerings where they were less likely to be spotted either by appearance or writing style.’
- ‘In the past, smoking was fashionable and a status symbol, but today smokers are the social pariahs in many environments, particularly from increasing numbers of non-smokers.’
outcast, persona non grata, leper, reject, untouchable, undesirableView synonyms2historical A member of an indigenous people of southern India originally functioning as ceremonial drummers but later having a low caste.
Origin
Early 17th century from Tamil paṛaiyar, plural of paṛaiyan ‘(hereditary) drummer’, from paṛai ‘a drum’.
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Pronunciation
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