Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations

Click to move up the list of words
Paris (1)
Paris (2)
Paris Commune
Paris green
parish
parish clerk
parish council
parish pump
parish register
parishioner
parisyllabic
parity (1)
parity (2)
parity value
park
park-and-ride
park day
Click to move down the list of words
Also available:

World English Dictionary
Dictionnaire Français

pariah

pa·ri·ah [ pə r ə ] (plural pa·ri·ahs)


noun 
Definition:
 
1. outcast: somebody who is despised and avoided

2. somebody rejected from caste: in South Asia, somebody who has defied a social law and has therefore been rejected by a caste

[Early 17th century. < Tamil paṟaiyan "drummer" < paṟai "festival drum"; because hereditary drummers were outside the caste system]
Advertisement

© 2009 Microsoft