brahmin

/ˈbrɑmɪn/

Other forms: brahmins

In Hinduism, a brahmin is a member of the highest class, spiritually and socially. Traditionally, brahmins were priests and teachers.

The term brahmin comes from the Sanskrit brahman, which means "prayer" or "the universal soul." People who were born into this group in ancient times were expected to devote their lives to holy pursuits. Within India's caste system, brahmins are the highest in the traditional social hierarchy. In the U.S., the word was appropriated by Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1851 to describe Boston's elite social class, made up of wealthy people with Ivy League educations.

Definitions of brahmin

1. noun

   the highest of the four varnas: the priestly or sacerdotal category
   synonyms: brahman

   type of:

   varna

   (Hinduism) the name for the original social division of Vedic people into four groups (which are subdivided into thousands of jatis)
2. noun

   a member of the highest of the four Hindu varnas
   synonyms: brahman

   types:

   smarta

   one of a group of brahmans who uphold nonsectarian orthodoxy according to the Vedanta school of Hinduism

   type of:

   Hindoo, Hindu, Hindustani

   a native or inhabitant of Hindustan or India
3. noun

   a member of a social and cultural elite (especially a descendant of an old New England family)
   synonyms: brahman

   type of:

   aristocrat, blue blood, patrician

   a member of the aristocracy