pariah

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pəˈɹaɪə/^[1]

Etymology

It is from Tamil paṟaiyar, plural of paṟaiyan,^[2][3][4] literally “drummer”,^[5][3][4] from paṟai, a large drum used at festivals.^[2][3][4] Etymonline allows that it may have come via Portuguese paria.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first named a member of a large low caste in southern India.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Beating drums at festivals was a hereditary duty of the caste.^[3][4] Europeans extended the name to members of any low caste and even to outcastes,^[6][3] and by 1819 to any social outcast.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1613 – a member of the caste.^[6][5][2]
• 1711 – any low-caste person or outcaste.^[6]
• 1816 – a pariah dog.^[6]
• 1819 – any social outcast.^[3][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A social outcast; someone despised and avoided.
2. (historical) A member of a low caste in southern India.

Word family

• pariahdom
• pariahism

Related words

• caste
• outcaste

References

1. [1] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] [3] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. [1] [2] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press