Brahmane

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person belonging to the highest, priestly caste in traditional Hindu society, responsible for sacred rituals and teaching
2. An archaic spelling for a member of the highest Hindu social class, whose hereditary duties centered on religious ceremony and learning
3. Someone born into the priestly varna of Hinduism, traditionally charged with performing rites, reciting scripture and preserving sacred knowledge

Etymology: Brahmane is an older English spelling of "Brahmin," the name for a member of the priestly caste in Hindu society. The word comes from Sanskrit "brāhmaṇa," which refers to a person of the priestly class and, in a related sense, to a class of Vedic ritual texts. The English form arrived by way of Portuguese and French travel writing and missionary accounts of India, which is why many early spellings look European rather than Sanskrit. The spelling "brahmane" reflects the French and Portuguese transmission, where a final "e" was common in writing. English later settled on "Brahmin," and "brahmane" fell out of general use, though it still appears in older texts and in some dictionaries as a variant.

Synonyms: brahmin