dalit means A member of a South Asian group of people traditionally regarded as untouchables or outcastes.
dalit is pronounced /ˈdɑːlɪt/.
Why “dalit” is a great word
A person belonging to a South Asian group historically subjected to untouchability and caste-based oppression. From Marathi दलित (dalit, "oppressed"), from Sanskrit दलित (dalita, "broken, destroyed"), coined in the 1800s by the Marathi activist-writer Jyotirao Phule. Unlike "untouchable," a stigmatizing label of ritual impurity imposed from above, or "Scheduled Caste," a bureaucratic classification for state administration, "Dalit" is a self-chosen identity of solidarity and assertion. It is the callused hand that cleans yet is deemed unclean, the voice that insists on being heard, and the quiet, relentless act of writing one's own name where only a number was expected—a deliberate reconstitution of a broken past into a future being forged.
Etymology
Borrowed from Marathi दलित (dalit, “oppressed”), from Sanskrit दलित (dalita, “broken, destroyed”).
noun
- A member of a South Asian group of people traditionally regarded as untouchables or outcastes.e.g.“Jogendra Nath Mandal was the first leader to fight for a further identity of the Dalits, holding that they were neither Hindus nor Muslims.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- harijan 67% match — Synonym of Dalit. vs dalit →
- chandala 64% match — A person involved in the disposal of corpses, traditionally a lower-caste Hindu and considered untouchable. vs dalit →
- bahujan 62% match — a person in South Asia that is caste oppressed or a religious minority. vs dalit →
- avarna 62% match — Someone outside the caste system, especially a Dalit or member of a tribal group. vs dalit →
- bhangi 59% match — A member of the Bhangi caste, traditionally restricted to cleaning latrines and handling dead bodies vs dalit →
- pariah 58% match — Synonym of outcast: A person despised and excluded by their family, community, or society, especially a member of the untouchable castes in Indian society. vs dalit →
- adivasi 57% match — A member of a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups considered the aboriginal population of South Asia. vs dalit →
- caste 57% match — Any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies or similar found historically in other cultures. vs dalit →