Untouchability

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The phenomenon of being barred from social interaction owing to one's caste status
2. The condition of being segregated and denied social acceptance due to caste distinctions
3. A social system practice where individuals are forbidden from interaction because of their caste identity

Etymology: "Untouchability" is a straightforward formation: English "untouchable" with the abstract noun suffix "-ity" attached, giving a term for the state or condition of being an untouchable. The suffix "-ity" comes through Old French from Latin "-itas", a common way of turning adjectives into nouns of quality, as in "active" becoming "activity" or "possible" becoming "possibility". The more striking part is the base word. "Untouchable" is itself built from "touch" with the prefix "un-" and the suffix "-able", meaning literally "not able to be touched." Its use for people of the lowest caste in the Hindu social order is a specialised sense of the English adjective, and the noun form "untouchability" carries that social meaning, describing the segregation and exclusion that the label imposed rather than any physical quality of the people so described.

Synonyms: inviolability, sacredness, impermeability, untouchableness, inaccessibility

Antonyms: vulnerability, accessibility, approachability, touchability, contact